Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Workforce plan will include an expansion in the allocation of dental student places at the University of Portsmouth.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.

The independent Office for Students has statutory responsibility for allocating funding for medical and dental school places. The University of Portsmouth would be considered for any possible future allocated dental training places, as would other dental schools in the same position.