NHS Dentistry: Recovery and Reform

Debate between Victoria Atkins and Jeremy Wright

Wednesday 7th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

We have finite resources. As I have said, this is additional money. I have prioritised dentistry across the board, but this is £200 million of additional money—in addition to the £3 billion that we spend in England.

[Sir Jeremy Wright (Kenilworth and Southam) (Con)]

I welcome what my right hon. Friend has said, and I understand why some of the new resources that she has announced are directed at particular types of intervention and particular groups of patients, but does she agree that one of the downsides of such an approach, at least potentially, is the extra administration that will obstruct dentists in the effective delivery of that resource? Will she therefore ensure that the funds are easily accessible, and that there is no such extra administration that would make that more difficult? Does she accept that longevity and consistency of funding matters, because it enables dentists to plan properly for their patients?

[Victoria Atkins]

My ethos is to make our NHS and social care system faster, simpler and fairer, and not just for patients but for practitioners. We do not want bureaucracy to get in the way of the delivery of these services, and I am impatiently keen to get them up and running in Members’ constituencies, so we will ensure that we make it is easy as possible for dental practices to use them.

Prisons Strategy

Debate between Victoria Atkins and Jeremy Wright

Tuesday 7th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

Fundamentally, the judiciary and magistrates should be trusted in their sentencing decisions. We need to provide alternatives for people who should rightly be sentenced to alternatives, but that must be a matter for the judiciary. On the question of prison places, this is precisely why we are investing nearly £4 billion in new prisons as well as having a vast programme of work to reshape existing accommodation and put in temporary accommodation so that prisoners are treated safely and decently inside.

[Jeremy Wright (Kenilworth and Southam) (Con)]

I welcome what my hon. Friend has said, particularly about digital technology. I know she will agree that one of its benefits will be to enable prisoners to communicate with their families in a safe and secure way. That is good for the prisoners’ rehabilitation and also good for the families, particularly the children. May I ask her one specific question? In relation to league tables, which are part of this statement, can she tell us how the Government will be able to make allowances for the very different kinds of prisons with very different types of inmates, so that the comparisons can be fair?

[Victoria Atkins]

I can reassure my right hon. and learned Friend that we of course recognise those differences. We recognise the challenges that, let us say, a local prison faces, compared with those faced by an open prison or one that accommodates prisoners for many years. That will be taken into consideration. We want these key performance indicators to tell the truth about what is happening in our prisons in a fair way, but also in a way that shares best practice around the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Victoria Atkins and Jeremy Wright

Thursday 2nd July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

7. What steps he is taking to ensure the rule of law continues to be upheld in line with Magna Carta.

[The Attorney General (Jeremy Wright)]

Last month, along with guests from many other countries, I attended the commemoration of the sealing of Magna Carta 800 years ago at Runnymede. In the centuries since, the rule of law has played a fundamental part in our national identity. The Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers share a particular responsibility to promote it in Government—one that we all take extremely seriously.

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[Victoria Atkins]

I declare that I am a barrister. The county of Lincolnshire holds one of only four copies of Magna Carta. What steps is my right hon. and learned Friend taking to ensure that the principles that have been developed in this country since 1215 are promoted abroad?

[The Attorney General]

I welcome my hon. Friend to her place—another lawyer; this is good news, we are heading in the right direction. She is right to point out that the rule of law is important not just in this country but across the globe, and this country has a proud record of doing what it can to promote it. We are a leading member of the United Nations Human Rights Council. She will be aware of the efforts of our former right hon. Friend, William Hague, in relation to sexual violence in conflict. We are the first state in the world to implement the UN’s guiding principles on business and human rights, and there are other examples.