Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS dentistry funding will keep pace with inflation and population growth across the current Spending Review period.

The financial pressures and the cost of new commitments for the National Health Service are analysed as part of the Spending Review process. The 2025 Spending Review sets departmental budgets for day-to-day spending up to 2028/29 and for capital for five years to 2029/30. This level of funding growth is intended to support the NHS in delivering the Government’s priorities, including commitments set out in the Government’s Plan for Change. It aims to ensure that by the end of the current Parliament, 92% of patients will begin consultant led treatment for non-urgent conditions within 18 weeks of referral. Further detail is provided at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2025-document/spending-review-2025-html

The Government has committed to hold a Spending Review every two years. The process for the next Spending Review, due to be held in 2027, will be set in due course.

The Government wants to ensure that every penny we allocate for dentistry is spent on dentistry, and that the ringfenced dental budget is spent on the patients who need it most.