Asked by: Linsey Farnsworth (Labour - Amber Valley)
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 ensure that contract negotiations take into account variations in unit prices between dentistry practices (a) across England and (b) that are geographically close to one another; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of such variations on recruitment of dentists.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of their local populations and to determine the priorities for investment.
Differential Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) rates allow providers to use differing pay rates to reflect the local market rates. From April 2024 a new minimum UDA value of £28 was set to support practices with historically low UDA rates. ICBs can also influence the UDA rate locally, which may help to support local interventions.
Asked by: Linsey Farnsworth (Labour - Amber Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing the cap on the number of Crown Court sitting days on the average time taken for cases to be heard.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Secretary of State for Transport
Every year, the Government and the Judiciary agree a number of sitting days and an overall budget in what is known as the Concordat process.
In June, the Judiciary reached an agreement with the former Lord Chancellor to sit 106,000 days in the Crown Court within a total budget of £275 million.
To support efforts to maximise capacity, the Lord Chancellor has since agreed to fund an additional 500 days.
But there has been over listing against this budget – with more trials scheduled than the funding allows.
As a result of that, approximately 1,600 sitting days had to be withdrawn. The level of impact will vary across regions and is being managed closely to ensure there is minimal disruption to all involved.