To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) when he expects to be able to publish details of the timetable of the scheme to change the system of finance available to student nurses;(2) whether all student nurses will receive student maintenance awards at a given date rather than phasing in the system of student finance while discounting the present system of remuneration for student nurses.

Final decisions on the Project 2000 proposals and the time scale of their implementation, which will be phased, will depend on the outcome of discussions with the statutory nursing bodies about the further work that needs to be done.