Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a long term funding settlement for NHS dentistry.

A budget of £3.8 billion for primary, community, and secondary dentistry has been allocated to the integrated care boards across England for 2024/25, to deliver new initiatives and address the challenges facing National Health Service dentistry. Allocations for 2025/26 will be confirmed shortly, and long-term funding will be considered during phase 2 of the Spending Review, which will set budgets for 2026/27 to 2028/29.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges patients face when trying to access NHS 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 and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.