asked Her Majesty's Government:

What assessment they have made of the impact on general practitioner training of postgraduate medical deaneries cutting training budgets.[HL6587]

Education and training budgets are allocated to strategic health authorities (SHAs) for use according to their own local priorities and SHAs have not yet finalised their plans for 2006-07. The Department of Health will collect information on levels of investment later in the year, but it is for the SHAs and their associated deaneries to determine the appropriate level of funding for general practitioner training within the resources available, taking account of workforce need. The resources available to medical deaneries for education and training have risen substantially in recent years.