Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) dentists and (b) dental care professionals from overseas were registered (i) between March 2022 and March 2023 and (ii) since March 2023.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent regulator of dentists and dental care professionals (DCPs) practising in the United Kingdom and enforces the standards they must adhere to. In order to practise in the UK, dentists and DCPs are required to hold registration with the GDC.
The Department does not hold data on how many dentists and DCPs have been registered with the GDC. Data on the registration of dentists and DCPs with the GDC is held by the GDC.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of NHS dentists.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, which was published on 30 June 2023, sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver a workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next five, ten and fifteen years. These include a 40% increase to dentistry undergraduate training places by 2031/32. To support this ambition, we will expand places by 24% by 2028/29, taking the overall number that year to 1,000 places.
We have recently taken steps to streamline registration of overseas-trained dentists, including legislation to enable the General Dental Council to improve its international registration processes, and streamlining the process for overseas dentists to join the Dental Performers List and start working in the NHS.
Furthermore, we are currently working on a plan for dentistry to improve access to dental care across England. Our plan will build upon the first package of reforms agreed in July 2022 and will address making NHS work more attractive to ensure dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure the NHS dentistry budget is fully used in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
From 1 April 2023 responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for identifying areas of need and to determine the priorities for investment.
NHS England has provided guidance for ICBs that requires dental funding to be ringfenced, with any unused resources re-directed to improve National Health Service dental access in the first instance. A schedule setting out the dental ringfence has been issued to ICBs. NHS England’s 2023/24 revenue finance and contracting guidance, which provides more detail, is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2023-24-revenue-finance-and-contracting-guidance/
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate she has made of the number of dentists in (a) Oxfordshire, (b) Oxford and (c) Abingdon.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is available at integrated care board (ICB) level only. The latest National Health Service Dental Statistics for England Annual Report shows that in 2022/23, 1090 dentists in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICBs performed NHS work. Dental Statistics is available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure the safety of UK nationals in Iceland.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The FCDO's Iceland travel advice reflects the current events in Grindavík and the seismic activity across the Reykjanes Peninsula. Events are not currently impacting the rest of Iceland. The British Embassy in Iceland is working closely with local authorities. We are not aware of any affected UK Nationals at present. UK nationals in the affected areas should sign up for travel advice alerts and contact the British Embassy if they require help. Our travel advice remains under constant review to ensure it reflects our latest assessment of risks to British nationals.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2023 Question 197602 on Vagrancy Act 1824, what his timeline is for publishing his Department’s response to the consultation on the Vagrancy Act 1824.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
A Government response to the consultation on replacement legislation for the Vagrancy Act will be released in due course.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to bring forward legislative proposals to replace the Vagrancy Act 1824 on the number of arrests of rough sleepers.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government does not collect figures on police usage of the Vagrancy Act where this does not result in prosecution.
As the Government made clear at the time, the repeal of the Vagrancy Act will be brought into force once suitable replacement legislation is in place to ensure local authorities and police have the powers, they need to support vulnerable individuals and keep communities safe.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help attract overseas researchers, academics and innovators to the UK.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are promoting the UK as a key destination for top science and technology talent through the GREAT Talent campaign and the Global Talent Network.
Our generous and points-based immigration offer makes it easy and fast for talented researchers and innovators to come to the UK.
We have launched a number of attractive visa routes, such as the Global Talent visa, which has seen a 76% rise in visas issued in the year ending June 2023.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is providing for work on a pancreatic cancer vaccine; and what his Department's timeline is for clinical trials of the vaccine.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government is supporting the development of cancer vaccines. Through the Cancer Mission we announced £22.5 million funding for immune-based cancer therapies, including cancer vaccines, targeted to a patient’s specific cancer, and for early cancer diagnostics.
In addition, the NHS England Cancer Vaccine Launchpad was created this year to support the delivery of cancer vaccine trials across England, enabling more patients to access trials for these groundbreaking therapies. While the Department does not have timelines for pancreatic cancer vaccine trials specifically, this pathway will seek to support such trial activity.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department made an assessment of the potential (a) impact of extending Network Rail's closure of Botley Road on local (i) residents and (ii) businesses and (b) merits of alternative proposals prior to granting permission for that extension.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Network Rail, which is delivering the works to increase capacity at Oxford station considered a number of options working closely with Oxford City Council before concluding that the closure of Botley Road should be extended to October 2024. Network Rail will continue to work with local residents, businesses and other stakeholders to minimise disruption.