§ Mrs. FyfeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his target for the number of nurse teaching posts; and what estimate he has made of the number of nurse teaching posts which will be lost in(a) Scotland and (b) Glasgow in each year until the target is reached.
§ Mr. Stewart[holding answer 3 December 1993]: The number of nurse teacher posts is dependent on the number of nurses who require to be trained. Retention of nurses has improved markedly over the last few years. As a result there has been a reduction in the number of student nurses in line with the number of job opportunities available. The effect of this is that the number of teaching posts in colleges of nursing and midwifery is being reduced. The management executive advised health boards in March 1993 of their view that colleges should seek to achieve a student:teacher ratio of 15:1 for preregistration nursing programmes by 1 April 1994. The number of teachers then required will depend on the assessments being carried out by health boards of the number of students required to enter training in 1994-95.
§ Mrs. FyfeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what guidance he is giving as to how nursing teachers will be chosen for redundancy; what terms they will be offered; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Stewart[holding answer 3 December 1993]: No guidance will be issued to health boards on the redundancy of nursing teachers. This is a matter for individual health boards as employers to determine in the light of local circumstances.