Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) financial and (b) other steps his Department is taking to increase access to NHS dentistry in (i) Mid Cheshire constituency, (ii) Cheshire and (iii) England.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Cheshire constituency, this is the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.