The Government has cut funding for nursing courses in a move that risks undermining its pledge to end the NHS’s reliance on foreign workers.
Ministers have quietly frozen grants that are paid to universities to help them cover the higher costs of training medical workers.
Critics reacted by warning that the move, which represents a real-terms cut, would “worsen an already difficult situation” in the sector and “leave us more reliant” on imported labour.
It will also prompt fears of further cuts down the line, with education set to be one of the losers in Rachel Reeves’s spending review this week.
Universities are already struggling to keep nursing courses afloat, with research showing that many are cutting lecturer jobs to save cash.
In last year’s manifesto, Labour pledged to “end the long-term reliance on overseas workers” with a “workforce and training plan” for the NHS.
However, Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, has now frozen grants which are paid to universities to cover the extra costs of running medical courses.
Those include courses for nursing, midwifery and “allied health professionals” such as paramedics, radiographers and occupational therapists.
In a letter to the Office for Students, she said the per-student funding levels should be kept the same as last year, representing a real-terms cut.
That is part of an overall reduction of £108 million in the cash that has been made available for the Strategic Priorities Grant this year.
Patricia Marquis, the executive director for the Royal College of Nursing in England, said nursing courses were already under threat from the “financial crisis” at universities.
“A freeze in per student funding, effectively a real-terms cut, could make a bad situation worse, resulting in not only more job losses, but impacting the very financial viability of nursing courses,” she warned.
“University courses are the single biggest route into the profession, and this would be a disaster. Additional funding should be released to protect nursing courses in response to rising costs.”
‘A detrimental impact’ on training
Vivienne Stern, the chief executive of Universities UK, also warned that the cuts to the grant risked “worsening an already difficult situation”.
She said that the move, combined with a recent decision to slash cash for apprenticeships, would have a “detrimental impact on training our healthcare workforce”.
“Universities are committed to delivering what this country needs, including a strong and sustainable NHS workforce, and are crucial to training talent,” she said.
“We can’t create a future-proof NHS workforce without long-term, sustained investment from the government.”
Ms Phillipson said in her letter to the OfS that universities should prioritise funding for nursing courses as “a strategically important subject”.
She targeted grants for other courses and in particular media studies and journalism, which have been derided by some as “Mickey Mouse” degrees.
But despite that, it appears there was still only enough money in the pot for her to restrict the hit to medical courses to a real-terms cut.
Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, said the move was “yet more evidence that Labour aren’t serious about cutting immigration”.
“At a time when we should be training more British people to become nurses, they’ve cut teaching grants for universities and scrapped almost all higher-level apprenticeships, leaving an 11,000 shortfall in the NHS workforce plan,” she said.
“These decisions will leave us more reliant on foreign labour, when we should be training British people for British jobs.”
The Department for Education is facing steep real-terms cuts to its budget when the Chancellor unveils her spending review on Wednesday. She will set out the annual funding totals that all Whitehall departments receive from next year until almost the end of the decade.
Most are expecting to see their budgets squeezed to free up more cash for health and defence, which will be the two big winners.
Within education, the school's budget is ring-fenced, meaning it cannot be cut.
Early years provision, meanwhile, is a flagship Labour policy with the party pledging to fund the creation of 100,000 new nursery places.
That means that higher education, including universities and apprenticeships, is expected to bear the brunt of the cuts imposed on the department.
A Government spokesman said: “We hugely value the work of talented nurses and midwives, which is why we have prioritised Strategic Priorities Grant funding for important, high-cost courses, including nursing and midwifery, that are vital for economic growth and our Plan for Change.
“The dire situation we inherited has meant this Government must take tough decisions to put universities on a firmer financial footing, and we’re continuing to support them, including by increasing the amount they can charge in tuition fees.
“We are rebuilding the NHS for the benefit of patients and staff, and ensuring nursing remains an attractive career choice, including by unveiling a refreshed workforce plan to ensure we have the right staff in the right place so the NHS can be there for everyone.”
