Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the prevalence of alcohol-related illnesses in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon, and Gloucestershire Cancer Alliance is supporting liver services in these regions by ensuring that sufficient ultrasound capacity is available to provide six-monthly liver surveillance to people with cirrhosis and advanced fibrosis and by establishing robust call and recall systems within each provider to track and invite those eligible for liver surveillance to attend appointments. The alliance is also ensuring that those who qualify for ultrasound appointments are included on liver surveillance registers.
In addition to funding through the Public Health Grant, in 2025/26, the Department is providing Somerset County Council with £2,101,277 from the Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant and the Individual Placement and Support Grant to help improve alcohol and drug treatment and recovery support, which includes housing and employment. All funding is provided at the Somerset level, and it is for Somerset County Council to determine how to meet the needs in Yeovil.
The Department has several analytical tools to help local authorities understand local need. This includes a publication of estimates of the number of alcohol dependent adults in each local authority in England and fingertips published data on alcohol and alcohol related conditions, including mortality and hospital admissions at a regional level. This is alongside a collection of alcohol and drug misuse prevention, treatment, and recovery guidance to support commissioners, service providers, and others providing alcohol and drug interventions. The Department has also developed the first ever United Kingdom clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment which are expected to be published in the next few months. The aim of the guidelines is to promote and support good practice and improve the quality of service provision.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to protect children in Yeovil constituency from air pollution.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Children can be susceptible to the health effects from long and short-term exposure to air pollution. The 10-Year Health Plan for England sets out how the Government plans to reduce harmful air pollution, including through a review of the Environmental Improvement Plan, which will set out measures to reduce emissions and everyone’s exposure to air pollution, including those most vulnerable to its effects such as children. We will continue to work across Government to reduce the health harms from air pollution.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support investment in memory assessment clinics in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). We would expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
The Government is committed to improving dementia care and is empowering local leaders with the autonomy they need to provide the best services to their local community, including those with dementia. That is why we have published the D100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help places and systems identify where improvements need to be targeted and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia.
Under the 10-Year Health Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services. We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia. It will set national standards for dementia care and redirect NHS priorities to provide the best possible care and support.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to support for people with anxiety in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board is responsible for commissioning services to meet the mental health needs of the people in Yeovil.
People with anxiety can self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies or their general practitioner can refer them. NHS Talking Therapies offer evidence-based psychological therapies to help with common mental health problems such as anxiety.
Nationally, the Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to transform mental health services by hiring more staff, delivering more talking therapies, and getting waiting lists down. We are delivering on our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers for children and adults by the end of this Parliament. 6,700 of these workers have been recruited since July 2024, meaning we are more than halfway towards our target.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the 10 Year Health Plan for England, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of neighbourhood health centres on the provision of community hospital services in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 3 July 2025, the Government announced the 10-Year Health Plan and set out its vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service to bring care into local communities, transform access to health services, and prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.
Neighbourhood Health Centres will play a key role in realising this vision and transforming healthcare access by bringing historically hospital-based services into communities and addressing wider determinants of health in communities across the country, including in places like Yeovil.
On 21 July 2025, I wrote to Members of Parliament highlighting that the Department and NHS England have written to integrated care boards (ICBs) and local authorities to invite applications from local places to participate in the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the NHS budget was allocated to primary care NHS dentistry excluding patient charge revenue in each financial year since 2010-11; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of the NHS budget that will be allocated to primary care NHS dentistry excluding patient charge revenue in each year from 2026-27 until 2029-30.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Prior to 2023/24 there was no specific dental budget allocation, as dentistry formed part of a wider budget which included community pharmacy and optometry. Since 2023/24, there has been a specific dental ringfence allocation for integrated care boards. This includes primary, secondary, and community dentistry and is set net of patient charges. The following table shows the dental budget as a proportion of the total National Health Service budget in each of the last two years:
Year | Proportion of NHS budget |
2023/24 | 2.17% |
2024/25 | 2.12% |
Note: the figure for 2025/2026 is not yet confirmed.
The details of budget allocations within each Government department for future years is still being determined. The Department is working to provide the detail and certainty needed on future funding and spending plans. This includes preparing for the first multi-year planning round for the NHS in more than half a decade, which will give local leaders the certainty they need to deliver.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department plans to provide for NHS dentistry in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Prior to 2023/24 there was no specific dental budget allocation, as dentistry formed part of a wider budget which included community pharmacy and optometry. Since 2023/24, there has been a specific dental ringfence allocation for integrated care boards. This includes primary, secondary, and community dentistry and is set net of patient charges. The following table shows the dental budget as a proportion of the total National Health Service budget in each of the last two years:
Year | Proportion of NHS budget |
2023/24 | 2.17% |
2024/25 | 2.12% |
Note: the figure for 2025/2026 is not yet confirmed.
The details of budget allocations within each Government department for future years is still being determined. The Department is working to provide the detail and certainty needed on future funding and spending plans. This includes preparing for the first multi-year planning round for the NHS in more than half a decade, which will give local leaders the certainty they need to deliver.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS dentists on rises in the costs for (a) NHS dental practices and (b) (i) laboratories and (ii) dental materials.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is continuing to meet the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector on a regular basis and some of these meetings have included the discussion of costs associated with delivering National Health Service dental care.
In addition, the Government is conducting a research project to better understand the costs and pressures associated with running a dental practice in England.
As part of this research, a survey was launched on 13 May 2025 and closed on 16 June 2025. This included questions on laboratory fees and dental materials as well as other associated costs with running a dental practice.
We are currently reviewing and analysing responses to understand findings.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment the has made of the adequacy of the 1.68% uplift to the practice expenses element of the NHS dental contract in 2023-24, in the context of changes to the costs of running a dental practice.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The pay elements of the 2024/25 National Health Service contracts for general dental practitioners and salaried dentists were all uplifted by 6%, in line with the independent Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration’s recommendations. The overall contract value was uplifted by 4.64%, net of pay and expense elements. Uplifted payments were backdated to 1 April 2024.
Whilst no specific assessment of adequacy has been carried out, the use of a gross domestic product deflator for expenses was consistent with other areas across the NHS, including for general practitioners and ophthalmology.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Ten Year Health Plan on community hospital bed provision in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our 10-Year Health Plan is creating a National Health Service truly fit for the future, keeping patients healthy and out of hospital, with care closer to home and in the home.
An impact statement for the plan will be published shortly.