§ Mr. GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what weighting he will give to regional needs when deciding which universities will benefit from the proposed allocation of an additional 1,000 medical school places; [75924]
(2) in deciding where to allocate the proposed additional 1,000 medical school places, he will conduct an impact assessment on the consequences for (a) public health and (b) community regeneration of approving a new medical school at Hull University. [75935]
§ Mr. DenhamThe responsibility for allocating medical student places in England lies with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
A joint implementation group has been established to take forward this work. The objectives, which were approved by Ministers, have been placed in the Library. The group wrote to all universities in England on 8 January 1999, inviting them to submit bids for a share of the extra medical student places by 12 March 1999. The group will consider all proposals received, and make recommendations to the HEFCE, which will announce the allocations later in the year.