Defra recognises that its vital farms have the workforce they need to harvest their great British produce and grow their businesses. We set out in the Farming Roadmap that to build clear skills pathways for a modern farming sector we are working across government, including Skills England, industry and with training providers, to strengthen professional routes into and through the sector, providing accessible pathways for people to enter, progress and build long term careers in agriculture that reflect the sector’s diverse and evolving needs.

We have just confirmed the 2027 Seasonal Worker visa allocations for the horticulture and poultry so businesses can plan the year ahead with confidence and are working on Sector Growth Plans for these sectors to explore how our growers can be more profitable, productive and grow whilst also working within key government policy parameters, including migration policy.

Defra recognises the importance of the workforce to food security. The Government’s Good Food Cycle publication references the importance of attracting talent and developing a skilled workforce to our nation and food security. The Farming Roadmap also makes clear the link between a strong, skilled and confident workforce in driving rural economic growth and strengthening Britain’s food security, whilst also committing to the Seasonal Worker visa route for the horticulture and poultry sectors until at least 2030. Addressing workforce recruitment and retention will be central to the Sector Growth Plans we have underway with sector experts.

The Adzuna report provides one indicator of conditions in the market for advertised graduate roles. The department considers that evidence from a range of sources should be used to establish the full picture of graduate outcomes and the wider labour market.

Updated research from the Institute of Fiscal Studies and the 2026 Longitudinal Education Outcomes data shows that higher education continues to offer good value for money for most students, with graduates expected to be on average around £100,000 better off over their lifetime than someone who does not go to university. It also shows that rates of individuals in sustained employment, further study, or both remain consistently higher amongst graduates than amongst those with no higher level qualification, across all combinations of subject area, gender and prior GCSE attainment.

The Government recognises the importance of maintaining a strong pipeline of UK seafarers to support maritime growth and resilience. To support this, maritime skills and training are regularly discussed with ministerial colleagues, industry stakeholders, and trade unions.

Policy discussions are informed by the recent Seafarer Projections Review which identified a potential shortfall of around 8,900 seafarers by 2035, and also by the Review of the Effectiveness of Funding for UK Seafarer Training which has provided an updated evidence base on the long-term sustainability of the workforce. We also note that recent reforms to the Tonnage Tax regime have contributed to growth in participation, with ship numbers in the regime increasing by 22% over the last two years, supporting the Government's ambitions for maritime growth, skills development and cadet training, and demonstrating the value placed on the regime by the maritime industry.

Work is underway to future proof seafarer training through the Cadet Training and Modernisation programme and the Ratings Review. We also strive to increase officer cadet recruitment by funding 50% of the cost of cadet training through the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) fund, whose budget for 2026/27 stands at £19.4m. Our focus is now on taking forward the recommendations of the funding review and ensuring the UK remains an attractive place to invest, train and operate.

The information requested for Question 29058 is not held centrally in the format requested.

Recruitment to the 2026 UK Foundation Programme has now concluded. Total numbers of Foundation Programme places in the United Kingdom are agreed through a four-nation workforce planning process and take into account the fact that a proportion of applicants withdraw from the Foundation Programme each year. The Government therefore has no plans to backfill any vacant posts that may arise for 2026.

The requested data is not centrally held. On the wider issues raised, I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 1 June to Question 1389.

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

The government values and recognises the importance of all subjects, including religious education (RE). There were 15,781 teachers of RE in 2025/26.

As a consequence of a more favourable supply forecast, the recruitment need for RE fell for 2026/27. There were 492 postgraduate RE ITT trainees in 2025/26, the highest number of RE postgraduate ITT entrants since 2020/21.

The department reviews the need for initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries annually and will consider RE alongside all other subjects.

Further information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, including information on the proportion of timetabled hours delivered by specialist teachers for each subject and key stage for secondary schools at national level. The latest available figures for RE by key stage are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/0326e399-7e8d-40ac-e607-08df06afb6ab.

MHCLG recruits externally by default, with vacancies advertised through fair and open competition to both Civil Service and external candidates. This helps ensure access to the widest possible and most diverse talent pool. Where there is a clear business need, such as a requirement for specific Civil Service experience that cannot be found externally, vacancies may instead be advertised across government only.

In the 2025/26 financial year, 58% of campaigns were advertised externally and 42% across government.

We are at the early stages of development of the new technical awards and will be engaging with school leaders and the wider sector to understand how we can ensure we have the right capacity to deliver these pathways and continue to target workforce growth where it is needed.

​We have achieved over 71% of our 6,500 additional teachers target. There are 4,654 more teachers, 3,008 more teachers in secondary and special schools in 2025/26 and 1,646 more teachers in further education, than in 2024/25. The latest School Workforce Census also reported the lowest leaver rate outside the pandemic, and a record number of teachers returning to the classroom.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer she was provided on 19 August to Question 18780. We will address any further issues in this area as part of our upcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan.

Decisions on recruitment and employment are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

Although the funding resource and targets do come from the Department into NHS England, it is the responsibility of NHS England and each integrated care board (ICB) to plan and determine how funding is allocated and spent locally to deliver services within an ICB area, including how this is distributed by ICBs to local ambulance trusts.

This Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

AI will transform workplaces, demanding new skills and augmenting existing roles. To prepare for this, the AI Economics Institute (AIEI) was set up as a cross-government function to help ensure that AI delivers positive outcomes for the economy, jobs and workers. The AIEI recently published a snapshot of entry-level hiring, produced with LinkedIn, which found that entry-level hiring is falling broadly in line with the wider market, though further research is needed before conclusions can be drawn on AI's role. We have also launched the Early Careers Jobs Alliance to map how entry-level work is changing and help maintain entry-level career pathways.

High-quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child’s outcomes. Which is why we committed to recruiting 6,500 additional secondary, special school and further education (FE) teachers over the course of this parliament.

In February, we published our delivery plan, focussing on three key themes; attracting, retaining and developing teachers. To ensure we have enough highly-skilled teachers in our schools and colleges to allow every child to achieve and thrive.

We have now achieved 71.6% of the 6,500 additional teachers target. There are 4,654 more teachers, 3,008 more teachers in secondary and special schools in 2025/26 and 1,646 more teachers in FE, than in 2024/25.

Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

This publication includes information on the number and rate of teacher vacancies at school, local authority, regional and national level. The latest available figures, for November 2025, for England and Essex are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/84345759-2cf5-416f-2df0-08df07a6df71.

Figures for parliamentary constituencies are not published directly. However, they can be derived from the published school-level data. In November 2025, across the 34 schools in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency, there were 2 teacher vacancies, equivalent to a teacher vacancy rate of 0.2%.