Oral Answers to Questions

Dan Carden Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

We are looking at two things, the first of which is making sure we deliver what we said in our manifesto, including the 700,000 urgent appointments. We are determined to deliver those as fast as we can and my hon. Friend the Minister for Care is having discussions with the British Dental Association to that effect. He is also looking closely, as am I, at the money that is already going into NHS dentistry—how that money could be better spent and how it is that year after year, despite people’s teeth rotting to the extent that they are having to pull them out themselves or children having to attend A&E to have their teeth pulled out, we saw consistent underspends in the dentistry budget under our predecessors. We are determined to give dentists the tools to do the job so that patients can see a dentist when they need one.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool Walton) (Lab)]

4. What steps his Department is taking to support drug and alcohol addiction treatment services.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for his campaigning on this important issue—and indeed for speaking so honestly about his own experiences during his time in this House. An additional £267 million has been invested this year to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. We are committed to correcting the years of disinvestment in treatment and recovery services and ensuring that people can access the support they need.

[Dan Carden]

The Minister has done it for me, but I alert colleagues to my interests in this area.

Last month, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled against seven companies posing as treatment providers or impartial advice services or for failing to make clear their role in earning commission when they were in fact brokers—and I can tell the Minister that many more such companies escaped that ruling. They are able to mislead families while taking cuts of up to 40% of fees being paid directly to treatment providers. Frankly, they have been able to run the sector like a racket. Can we make sure that this ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority is the start of something new, where we can seek to regulate practices properly, and will the Minister meet me and interested parties?

[Andrew Gwynne]

Attempting to exploit people with addictions is reprehensible. Free drug and alcohol treatment is available in every part of the country and I urge anyone who is struggling right now to visit the NHS addiction website. The Care Quality Commission has said that it could take legal action against companies misusing its logo, and Google has said it would remove search listings from these companies. I am more than happy to meet my hon. Friend to see what more we can do to stop this outrageous activity.