Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will (a) make an assessment of the availability of NHS dentists in York and (b) take steps with the Integrated Care Board to analyse and act upon the findings of that assessment.

In 2022/23, 853 dentists in Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) performed National Health Service work. This is equivalent to 49.9 dentists per 100,000 population. From 1 April 2023, the commissioning responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population was delegated to ICBs across England. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to involve patient groups, and for undertaking oral health needs assessments, to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment. We are working on our dental plan, which will be published shortly and will include further measures to improve access.