To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses there are at present; and how many there were in 1979.

I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire, West (Mr. McLoughlin) on 21 March, at column 567.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department is taking to encourage the private health care sector to increase its contribution to nurse training.

I am pleased to announce that representatives of the private sector, the English National Board and the Department have recently established a joint working group to identify the extent of the private sector's capacity to participate in pre-registration nurse training. The group will also identify the sector's demand for post-registration nurses and its capacity to provide an input consistent with its capacity to train, and its demand for, staff.