Written questions by Ferguson.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of open GP practices in Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency (a) on the most recent date for which figures are available and (b) in 2010.

The data provided has been sourced from NHS Digital and shows the number of open practices as of August 2024, and in August 2014 as no data is available prior to this. The data only includes main practices in the Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency and does not include branch practices. Locations have been mapped to current constituency boundaries. Open and close dates for practices were identified using data from NHS Organisation Data Service.As of August 2024, there are 15 open practices in the Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency. In August 2014, there were 19 open practices in the Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency.

How many apprenticeships started in Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency in each of the last five years.

Apprenticeship starts are published at parliamentary constituency level in the Apprenticeships official statistics, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/apprenticeships. Data for Gateshead Central and Whickham by academic year from 2018/19 to 2022/23 can be found in the dataset called ‘Geography - New Parliamentary Constituency Breakdowns’.

What the average funding per pupil was in mainstream schools in (a) Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency, (b) the North East Combined Authority Area and (c) England in each of the last five years.

The table below sets out funding statistics for the North East and England in each of the last five years. The figures represent the funding provided through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). All of the figures in the table exclude growth funding but include premises. The figures do not include the additional grant funding that schools across the country have received to support pay and pensions increases in 2024/25. The DSG is allocated at local authority level and, as such, the equivalent figures are not available for Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency. The allocations that schools within a constituency receive are determined by the local funding formula in their area. The table below provides average per-pupil funding for the last five years, from the 2020/21 to 2024/25 financial years:YearDSG Schools Block per-pupil funding North East *England​2020/21£4,828£4,845​2021/22£5,220£5,228​2022/23£5,538£5,534​2023/24£5,869£5,8382024/25£5,993£5,957 * The data the department holds for the North East is for the North East region, as opposed to the North East Combined Authority Area.