Business of the House

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Thursday 24th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I join my hon. Friend in congratulating Western Isles council and wishing it a happy 50th anniversary. It sounds like he comes from a great dynasty of local politicians, and here he is as a Member of Parliament, representing his home area.

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

I thank the Leader of the House in advance for the very large number of follow-up letters she will be writing after this marathon session. I know that it is probably quite a chore, but we really appreciate that she does it so conscientiously.

In a brief exchange about NHS dentistry on 13 March, as part of the formidable campaign being waged by the National Federation of Women’s Institutes on that subject, I was quite impressed when the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said that the problem requires,

“not simply tinkering with the system as it is, but fundamentally rethinking it”—[Official Report, 13 March 2025; Vol. 763, c. 1298.]

I am sure he is absolutely right about that, so will the Leader of the House urge him to make a statement to the House on what progress he anticipates making on this very important issue?

[Lucy Powell]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for thanking me for all the letters that my brilliant civil service team support me with, getting the answers to the questions that people ask me during business questions. Making sure that Members get answers to the questions they raise is something that I take incredibly seriously.

The right hon. Gentleman is right to say that dentistry has been broken in this country, that access to NHS dentists is not what we would want it to be, and that more fundamental change is needed to ensure that we get more dentist appointments and look at the dental contract—I am lobbied about this issue by my own dentist every time I go. I will ensure that the House is kept updated on progress.