Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2025 to Question 47877 on NHS dental professionals, which (a) regions and (b) localities his Department has identified as being in greatest need of more NHS dental professionals.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of local populations is delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England.

ICBs have started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years. Dental practices in specific areas, determined locally as experiencing significant dental pressures due to workforce challenges impacting patient access, were invited by their ICBs to express interest in participating in the scheme and notified of the outcome of their application via their ICB. Further information on the dental recruitment process can be found in guidance issued by NHS England, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/dental-recruitment-incentive-scheme-2024-25/