Draft Water Fluoridation (Consultation) (England) Regulations 2022
Draft Health and Care Act 2022 (Further Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2022
Debate between Feryal Clark and Will Quince(2 years, 2 months ago)
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Feryal Clark (Enfield North) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Murray.
Poor oral health is far too common in 21st century Britain and, as is so often the case, it has the most significant impact on already vulnerable and disadvantaged people. Oral health has suffered from a chronic lack of investment, with a number of opportunities missed to make a serious impact on interventions. Those interventions have long since disappeared given the deep cuts made to public health budgets throughout the country, but one such measure that remains is putting fluoride in our water, which is an effective, evidence-based intervention on oral health—nothing more and nothing less. Given that fact, and the major health inequalities we face, we should actively pursue the rolling out of these schemes to the communities that would benefit the most.
When pursuing water fluoridation, it is vital that we start where communities are and bring them with us. I am therefore particularly pleased to see the emphasis the regulations place on the need for proactive engagement and consultation with local communities when the plans are rolled out. Given the mismatch of local authority and water-provider boundaries, the centralisation of the process is understandable, but it makes engagement even more important, as the Minister set out.
Given the regulations’ positive intention to improve oral health, where is the action to address the crisis of access to NHS dentistry? The Government spend on general practice in England has been cut by more than a third over the past decade, with the number of NHS dental practices in England falling by more than 1,200 in the five years prior to the pandemic. Tooth extraction remains the No. 1 cause of children being admitted to A&E. We welcome the regulations on fluoridation, but I gently remind the Minister that if we are to see progress on oral health, much more needs to be done.
On the second set of regulations, it is good to see the tidying up of the Health and Care Act 2022. I want to ask the Minister if it is correct that the regulations cover the statutory guidance on training for learning disabilities and autism?
Feryal Clark
I just wanted to check, because the Minister mentioned virginity tests and hymenoplasty. I want to make clear our support for the change in that guidance on learning disability and autism training. The regulations are welcome, and their implementation is now a task for the Government.
Virginity testing and hymenoplasty are serious practices with no medical benefits that do not work in service of the goal they are supposedly pursuing. They are not medical practices; they are nothing more than abuse. Both practices are a violation of women’s and girls’ human rights. As the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has stated,
“Both are harmful practices that create and exacerbate social, cultural and political beliefs that a woman’s value is based on whether or not she is a virgin before marriage.”
Women need and deserve ownership of their sexual and reproductive health. It is our right. Those who deny women that right in any part of our country are criminal. They must not have the right to foster a child. We cannot and must not entrust the care of a child to anyone who has committed such a heinous crime. We welcome the regulations and support the measures.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Feryal Clark and Will Quince(2 years, 7 months ago)
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Will Quince
I would be happy to visit my right hon. Friend’s constituency. The schools that are doing best on mental health and mental wellbeing are the ones that take a whole-school approach, as that school no doubt is.
Feryal Clark
A set of schools that are usually forgotten are the pupil referral units that take on pupils with extensive special educational needs and disabilities. Tackling such a challenging set of needs requires a multidisciplinary approach, but PRUs throughout the country do not have set criteria for how they should teach students or support children back into mainstream schools, and nor do they have sustained funding. Will the Minister look at the fantastic model for multidisciplinary and multi-agency education that is delivered at Orchardside School—the Department is aware of its work—in my constituency? Perhaps he can come to see the work being done there and how sustained investment can make a difference.
Will Quince
I would be very happy to do so. We need a step change in the way that we approach alternative provision. That is why alternative provision is a key part of the special educational needs and disability and alternative provision review. We do need a step change. I would be very happy to come to see the hon. Lady’s constituency. We are investing an initial £2.6 billion in capital for SEND and alternative provision places, which I know will be game changing.