Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a dental school in Lincolnshire.

It is for individual universities to decide whether they wish to establish a dental school. Before a university, such as the University of Lincoln, can apply to receive Government-funded dental school places, it needs to have met the requirements of the General Dental Council, the Office for Students and obtained “dental authority status” from the Privy Council. The Office for Students has statutory responsibility for allocating dental school places.

We will be working with NHS England to assess the need for more dental trainees in areas such as Lincolnshire, where we know that many people are struggling to find a National Health Service dentist.