Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for increasing available Units of Dental Activity in Somerset.

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. For the Taunton and Wellington constituency this is the Somerset ICB.

Since 2024, a minimum Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) value of £28 is in place to support practices with historically low UDA rates. ICBs have the flexibility to influence the UDA rate locally, which may help to support local interventions. The current differential UDA rates across England also allow providers to use differing pay rates for associate dentists to reflect the local market rates.

In July 2022, ICBs were given new powers to unilaterally rebase a provider’s dental contract if they have consistently failed to deliver the UDAs required, within a contractual tolerance of 96%. In practice this means that ICBs can reallocate these UDAs to practices who are able to deliver them, meaning more available care for patients.

We are committed to fundamentally reforming the dental contract by the end of the Parliament, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention, and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the revised bovine tuberculosis strategy; and whether she plans to expand the use of private testing to support the management of infection within affected herds.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

On 10 June 2026, a co‑designed bovine TB control strategy for England, developed and recommended by the Steering Group of the Bovine TB Partnership, was published. It is now available on the government-industry TB Hub website. The Government will now consider proposals carefully, intending to move swiftly from recommendations to delivery through a series of rolling three‑ to five‑year delivery plans.

The strategy proposes greater access to privately funded ancillary bovine TB testing alongside statutory testing to support earlier detection of infected cattle and disease management.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the statutory bereavement award under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976; whether he plans to review the level of that award; and whether an assessment has been made of the potential impact of the current level on the ability of families to pursue (a) legal claims for alleged clinical negligence and (b) other legal claims.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Bereavement damages are a fixed payment in acknowledgment of grief and are in no way intended to reflect the value of the life lost in monetary terms. They are only one element of the damages that may be awarded in a particular case, which for example can also include damages for dependency.

The Government’s position remains that it believes the existing legal framework, involving a fixed level of award and clear eligibility criteria, represents a reasonable, proportionate and practical approach.

There are no plans to review the level of the award, and the Government does not believe the level of the award has any impact on the ability of individuals to bring negligence claims.

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