Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of delays to 2024-25 dental payments on NHS dental provision.

The independent pay review body for doctors and dentists recommended a 6% pay uplift for 2024/25. The Government accepted the recommendation and has uplifted National Health Service primary care dentistry contract values by 4.64%, net of pay and expenses elements.

We have also increased payments for training practices for the first time in more than a decade. The Government implemented the overall uplift to contract values on 29 January. Uplifted payments will be made in March, backdated to 1 April 2024.