Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on responding to the recommendations of the First Report of the Committee of Public Accounts of Session 2024-25 on Support for children and young people with special educational needs, HC 353, published on 15 January 2025.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

An update is publicly available through the Treasury Minutes, published in April 2025, and accessible here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67ed087598b3bac1ec299b5a/Treasury_Minutes_v02_PRINT.pdf.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure reliable access to NHS dental treatment in (a) East Riding of Yorkshire and (b) rural areas.

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

We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in rural areas. The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For East Riding of Yorkshire, this is the Humber and North Yorkshire ICB.

The additional 700,000 appointments will be available across the country, with specific targets for each region. The Humber and North Yorkshire ICB is expected to deliver 27,196 additional urgent care appointments. These targets are more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/arrangements-for-nhs-urgent-primary-dental-care-during-2025-26-and-confirmation-of-the-closure-of-the-new-patient-premium-scheme/#annex-a-distribution-of-700k-additional-appointments

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the level of funding available for NHS dental treatments.

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

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England.

The NHS in England invests £3 billion into dentistry every year. NHS England is responsible for issuing guidance to ICBs on dental budgets, including ringfences. Dental budgets are ringfenced and NHS England reserves the right to direct unused resources, if contractors are unable to deliver on NHS dental commitments.

NHS England’s Planning Guidance for 2025/26 has now been published and sets out the funding available to ICBs. Planning guidance also confirms that improving access to urgent dental appointments is a key national priority.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of setting minimum targets for integrated care boards on the proportion of people seen by NHS dental providers over a 24 month period.

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

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry and receive an annual allocation of funding to secure services to meet the needs of their population.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on reform of the NHS dental contract.

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

To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists.

There are no perfect payment systems and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver a system better for patients and the profession.

We are continuing to meet the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to discuss how we can best deliver our shared ambition to improve access for NHS dental patients.

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