Oral Answers to Questions

Natalie Fleet Excerpts

Tuesday 24th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Callum Anderson (Buckingham and Bletchley) (Lab)]

7. What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to NHS dental services.

[Natalie Fleet (Bolsover) (Lab)]

23. What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to NHS dental services.

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

We know that dentistry was left in crisis by the Conservatives, but this Government are determined to ensure that everyone can access a dentist when they need one. We have recently broadened access to dental appointments, so that patients who need more serious and ongoing treatment no longer miss out. Between April and October 2025, we delivered 1.8 million more treatments than in the same period before the general election.

[Stephen Kinnock]

I am very sorry to hear about the plight of my hon. Friend’s constituent, and I would be more than happy to look into the specifics of her case. The sad reality is that after 14 years of Tory neglect and incompetence, we have ended up with a two-tier dentistry system. This Government are determined to ensure that high-quality NHS dentistry is available to everyone who needs it. The 2026 reforms that I announced on 16 December will help patients who have complex needs by creating a new care pathway, backed by tariffs for dentists of between £250 and £700, which could save patients up to £225 in fees. Our 2026 measures, combined with long-term contract reform, will indeed enable timely, high-quality treatment that is within financial reach.

[Natalie Fleet]

Fourteen years of Conservative rule has consequences for the children in my constituency. A quarter of them have tooth decay—[Interruption.] Conservative Members can shake their heads as much as they like, but this is the real-world impact of the decisions that they made. Those children are some of the most deprived in Derbyshire, and the integrated care board has found that they are more likely than wealthier constituents 3 miles up the road to have tooth decay. I am pleased that we are fixing dentistry. We are getting more urgent dentist appointments and we have the roll-out of supervised toothbrushing in schools, but we need to do more. What more are this Government doing to address this inequality and help the children in my constituency who are in pain?

[Stephen Kinnock]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Conservatives failed our children’s health; tooth decay is the most common reason for hospital admissions for five to nine-year-olds. That is a truly shameful, Dickensian state of affairs. We have provided Derbyshire county council with £82,000 for this year’s supervised toothbrushing programme, with further funding agreed till 2028-29. I am delighted that, of the 42,000 increase in the number of treatments in the Derby and Derbyshire ICB area, 19,000 were for children, and by extending the soft drinks industry levy we will protect kids’ teeth from decay—a policy that is emblematic of the shift from treatment to prevention that is at the heart of our 10-year plan.

Palliative Care: North Derbyshire

Natalie Fleet Excerpts

Wednesday 17th December 2025 Westminster Hall

[Mr Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered Ashgate Hospice and palliative care in north Derbyshire.

In late June of this year, my fiancé Amanda and I found ourselves, along with 3,000 others, dressed in bright-pink t-shirts, wearing flashy-pink bunny ears, setting out from Chesterfield football stadium on the annual Sparkle Night Walk, a fundraiser for Ashgate hospice in north Derbyshire. Fundraisers raised over £385,000 that night—another reminder of the precious place that Ashgate hospice has in the hearts of the people of north Derbyshire.

It is often said that everyone in north Derbyshire knows someone who has been helped by the hospice. It is impossible to overstate the affection for it, or the commitment that local people demonstrate to raising funds for it. Ashgate is a charitable hospice providing specialist palliative and end-of-life care for about 2,600 people each year across north Derbyshire. In October came the devastating announcement that Ashgate was consulting on making as many as 52 posts redundant, and planning to close 60% of its in-patient beds.

[Natalie Fleet (Bolsover) (Lab)]

I have received so many emails from really concerned constituents about this issue. There was one that stuck out: it was from a serving member of the armed forces, who wrote to me about her elderly mother who recently passed away at Ashgate. She was stationed abroad, but flew home to be with her mum, and was able to spend five days and nights with her—her mother’s last moments. Does my hon. Friend agree that we should all be extremely thankful for the high-quality care that Ashgate hospice gives to our constituents and others, and that we should all be concerned about the reduction in beds and the loss of jobs?

[Mr Perkins]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There is a reason why Ashgate holds a dear place in people’s hearts. It is because at the lowest ebb, Ashgate has been there to provide love, care and support when all else is lost. This is a story that we hear so many times.

While the announcement caused shockwaves across the community, it did not entirely come as a surprise to Derbyshire MPs, who had for many weeks been attempting to get clarity between the then Derbyshire integrated care board and the hospice on a number of issues.

International Men’s Day

Natalie Fleet Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Natalie Fleet (Bolsover) (Lab)]

I am thrilled to be here to celebrate the incredible men among us, including my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury). I thank him for sharing his story.

Men need to be celebrated today—those who pick up the pieces, make our lives better by being in them and provide positive role models to our children. I want to speak about the most undervalued man in my life, my husband Ritchie Fleet. In March, it will be 25 years since we met, with me at 16 with a newborn and him ready to step up into a role that he chose and which he has absolutely smashed. He makes me feel supported and loved, and I am proud to see him growing from a caring and present father to an incredible grandad. I cannot wait to see his adventures with our granddaughter as he drops his hours to take on his share of her childcare.

There is breaking news, Madam Deputy Speaker: all the toilet seats have been stolen from Scotland Yard, but police say they have got nothing to go on.

Everyone loves a dad joke, but we cannot let paternity leave be the real joke. How we see it is really important. It is an important class issue, with 90% of paternity leave taken by the 50% of top earners, and dads in my area less likely to take paternity leave than those who live in London. The men’s health strategy, which I am thrilled that we are introducing, is right to identify that flexible working and sufficient paternity leave positively impact a father’s health, relationship with their partner and involvement with their child. When we get it right, it is not just better for men but better for women and children.

I was honoured to be at the first ever International Men’s Day celebration in Downing Street last night. I could take a guest, and there were so many to choose from in my constituency, including: Kyle Barnes in Langwith, who set up a football team for his daughter; Andrew Joesbury in South Normanton, who spends so much time volunteering at the school; and Tony Mellors in Newton, who wants to ensure that our area’s history is passed on to the next generation. But the man I took was Paul Oxborough from Holmewood.

Paul’s friend Dale Caffrey was a man we lost too soon. Suicide remains the biggest killer of men under 50, and the destruction left behind is immeasurable. Paul set up Mental Health Motorbike with Dale’s wife and best friend, which is a mental health charity that provides free online and face-to-face support. In five years, the charity has grown to 100 volunteers and is holding over 400 events this year, taking mental health peer support to the biker community across the UK. I am thrilled to have that national charity established in my constituency by that incredible bloke.

As I saw Paul speaking to the Prime Minister last night about all that the charity has achieved, I thought about the suicides that could be prevented. There is so much to celebrate today, but there is also so much more to do. Let us show our boys that real courage is talking about men’s mental health. Strength comes from opening up when you need to. Let us make it normal that proper, brave men talk about how they feel.

I will finish with the words of my friend Tracey about her late husband Kurt Hayes-Bradley: one life lost is one too many; each life saved is a blessing. It is definitely time to talk.