Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dental practices are currently accepting new NHS patients in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency; and what data his Department holds on waiting times for NHS dental treatment in that constituency for the latest available period.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend. Some dental practices may operate local waiting list arrangements. Therefore, data on waiting times for NHS dental treatment is not held centrally.

As of 3 November 2025, there were six NHS dentist practices in the Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency, with one showing as ‘accepting new child patients when availability allows’ and zero showing as ‘accepting new adult patients when availability allows’. This data is sourced from the Find a Dentist website and is matched to constituencies based on the postcode data shown on the website, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist

Integrated care board (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population. For the Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency, this is the North East and North Cumbria ICB.

We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments across the country, with appointments more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most. The Government is also considering the outcomes of the consultation on immediate improvements to dental care and will publish a response shortly.

We are committed to reforming the dental sector and we will deliver fundamental contract reform before the end of this Parliament.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East ahead of the publication of the forthcoming SEND White Paper.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

As part of our Plan for Change, the department is determined to fix the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system and restore the trust of parents. We expect mainstream schools to welcome pupils from across the whole community, including pupils who may need additional support. All schools have a duty to support children and young people with SEND and to cooperate with local partners.

Ofsted’s new focus on inclusion during inspection will strengthen accountability on schools for meeting the needs of children with SEND. Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission last inspected Middlesbrough Local Area Partnership (LAP) in 2023, where the partnership received a positive inspection outcome.

The department will support the mainstream workforce to increase their SEND expertise and encourage schools to set up Resourced Provision or SEN units to increase capacity in mainstream schools. Departmental officials meet with Middlesbrough Council regularly to discuss the delivery of SEND services. In meetings, the LAP is challenged on current data and how future plans will improve services and support children and young people with SEND in Middlesbrough.

The department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. Total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND is over £12 billion in 2025/26. Of that total, Middlesbrough is being allocated over £41 million through the high needs funding block of their dedicated schools grant.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the impact of long-term stays in temporary accommodation on (a) children’s physical and mental health and (b) children’s educational outcomes; and what steps they are taking to mitigate any negative effects identified.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Child Poverty Strategy sets out a range of measures to support families in need of temporary accommodation.

The government will end the unlawful placement of families in bed and breakfasts beyond the six-week limit and work with the NHS to end the practice of discharging mothers with newborn babies into bed and breakfasts or other unsuitable housing.

The government will provide £950 million through the fourth and largest round of the Local Authority Housing Fund from April 2026 to deliver up to 5,000 high quality homes for better temporary accommodation by 2030.

A new legal duty will also be introduced for councils to notify schools, health visitors, and GPs when a child is placed in temporary accommodation, so no child is left without support.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will also introduce a clinical code on children in temporary accommodation to improve data collection, with the aim of preventing further deaths caused by gaps in health care provision.

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