The flooding in Fylde on Monday night was horrific. I have never seen flooding in Freckleton like this and I thought the authorities had the situation in Newton under control. I have written to Lancashire County Council and the Environment Agency to ask for urgent action to help those affected, and for a full review of the causes of this flooding. The rains were clearly very heavy, but we must identify why the drains could not cope.
The latest scientific research, the biggest study carried out across the world, shows little evidence coronavirus can be transmitted through schools. I hope this is the case and we can get our schools back open in September as the Prime Minister has outlined.
If there is no chance of the virus being transmitted, we must get children back into education after months of tremendous support from teachers and classroom assistants online, and from parents at home. The longer a child misses school, the longer-lasting the effects can be, so I am pleased the Government has announced a £1 billion pound fund for catch-up support, including some £350 million for a National Tutoring Programme for our schoolchildren.
In total, Government spending on schools has risen by £14 billion including a 10-year building programme as part of the Government's Build Back Better scheme.
I welcome the £172 million announced by the Government for nursing apprentices. We made a commitment to employ 50,000 more nurses by the end of this Parliament. The scheme will allow employers to take on 2,000 nursing apprentices every year for the next four years, allowing students to earn and learn at the same time. There had been a surge of interest in healthcare careers with a 138 per cent increase in the number of people accessing information on nursing from the NHS.