Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government why the NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board did not increase the units of dental activity (UDA) value of contracts awarded through its March 2024 procurement by the same percentage their regional UDA values increased by, following two separate increases to the minimum UDA value for existing contract holders; and what assessment they have made of the potential impact of this decision on the financial viability of those newly tendered contracts, particularly given their requirement to treat new patients with higher treatment needs.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population. Therefore, responses to these questions should be requested directly from the North East and North Cumbria ICB.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, of the 11 new NHS dental contracts procured by NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board in March 2024 to address shortages in NHS dentistry in the region, how many were successfully awarded; and how many are now operational.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population. Therefore, responses to these questions should be requested directly from the North East and North Cumbria ICB.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board awarded dental contracts subsequent to its March 2024 procurement outside of a formal procurement process without transparently offering all NHS contract holders the opportunity to apply; if so, what assessment they have made of these awards; and if commissioning flexibility has been applied in such cases, why similar flexibility has not been extended to contracts awarded through the March 2024 procurement.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population. Therefore, responses to these questions should be requested directly from the North East and North Cumbria ICB.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proposal for a system for equitable distribution of general medical practitioners in England, submitted to the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care on 22 February by John G Gooderham.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The 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. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. This workforce plan will set out how we will deliver that change by making sure that staff are better treated, have better training, more fulfilling roles, and hope for the future.

We are investing £485 million in general practices (GPs) in 2026/27, bringing the total spend on the GP Contract to over £13.8 billion. This builds on the £1.1 billion boost in investment in 2025/26. As part of the 26/27 GP Contract, we are increasing flexibility of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) by removing the restriction that ARRS funding can only be used for recently qualified GPs, increasing the maximum reimbursement amount for GP roles to reflect experience, and enabling primary care networks to recruit a broader range of ARRS roles, where agreed with the commissioner.

Following feedback from the 2026/27 GP Contract consultation, we are introducing a practice-level GP reimbursement scheme which ring-fences and repurposes £292 million of funding from the current Capacity and Access Payment. This funding will be available to practices to hire additional GPs or fund additional sessions with existing GPs to improve access in practices. This aims to strengthen capacity, access, and improve patient satisfaction, whilst also addressing GP unemployment and underemployment.

We know that the way core GP funding is allocated across England is considered outdated and we recognise the importance of ensuring funding for core services is distributed equitably between practices across the country. This is why we are currently reviewing the GP funding formula, the Carr-Hill formula, to ensure that resources are targeted where they are most needed.

The first phase of the review is expected to conclude in March 2026. Subject to ministerial decision, further work would be undertaken to technically develop and model any proposed changes to the formula. Findings from the review will be published in due course by the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

The proposal has been received and Government officials will assess it in the normal manner.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 18 March (HL15247), when they expect to reach a conclusion in their review of VAT for public bodies under section 41 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

HM Treasury is currently analysing data provided by Section 41 bodies on their irrecoverable VAT and will set out the next steps to the reforms in due course.