Today’s announcement that there is to be the biggest ever expansion of training for new doctors, including 90 new places at the Universities of Hull and York, is excellent news and will make a huge difference to the medical workforce in the North of England. The Government has announced the creation of five new medical schools across the country with a record number of undergraduates beginning medical training in 2020 with 25 more starting in Hull and York this September and a further 65 next year after a rigorous bidding process. I have been urging the Minister to make more places available in our excellent local medical school and so I welcome this news. I think the Government is absolutely right to focus the training outside of London with an emphasis on the North, rural and coastal areas where it has been traditionally difficult to attract doctors and where there is a significant elderly population. It shows the Government’s commitment to addressing regional imbalance across the UK, something I have been campaigning for since I was elected in 2015. I am also pleased that it intends to encourage people from disadvantaged backgrounds to take up these new training places. The expansion of medical training for doctors is just one aspect of the Government’s commitment to the NHS workforce, having already announced a further five thousand additional nurse training paces every year from September 2018, which represents an increase of 25% overall and will make a huge difference to helping deliver healthcare in our area.