Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Kinnock Excerpts

Tuesday 13th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Edward Morello (West Dorset) (LD)]

4. What steps his Department is taking to ensure the accessibility of regular NHS dental check-up appointments in West Dorset constituency.

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

This Government are committed to ending the gaps in teeth by filing the gaps in local provision, including in rural areas such as Dorset. We will work to introduce fundamental changes to the dental contract before the end of this Parliament, but already from April the reforms to NHS dentistry that I announced last month will mean more NHS appointments and better oral health.

[Edward Morello]

NHS dentistry in West Dorset is in crisis. We have just 15 practices offering any kind of NHS care, and only half of young people have seen a dentist in the last two years. Residents are writing to me about elderly people removing their own teeth and children in A&E with preventable tooth decay. What consideration has the Minister given to requiring supervised trainee dentists on placement at dental training schools to work exclusively on NHS waiting lists rather than taking private appointments, which would help reduce the backlog?

[Stephen Kinnock]

The hon. Gentleman will have noted that we have committed to tie-ins for future dentists going through the training programme. It costs the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds to train a dentist, and we believe it is absolutely right that a significant percentage of their time should be put into NHS dentistry.

In terms of improving access, in financial year 2023-24 there was a shocking £392 million underspend on NHS dentistry at a time when demand was going through the roof. I made clear that every penny allocated to NHS dentistry must be spent on NHS dentistry, and I am very pleased to report that we have got that underspend down to just £36 million. The decrease in the underspend is leading to an increase in NHS dentistry, but I accept that there is still a long way to go.

[Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Gateshead South) (Lab)]

5. What steps he is taking to improve access to tissue freezing for brain cancer patients in Washington and Gateshead South constituency.

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[Dr Neil Hudson (Epping Forest) (Con)]

11. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Government’s house building targets on the availability of primary care services in Epping Forest constituency.

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

Rapid housing and population growth can put real pressure on GP services. That is why we are investing an extra £1.1 billion in general practice, taking total GP funding to £13.4 billion. We are also creating 250 neighbourhood health centres, upgrading surgeries through a £102 million fund, and working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to determine how developer contributions from new housing, through section 106 and the community infrastructure levy, can be improved to enable the delivery of local health services as an integral part of new housing developments.

[Dr Hudson]

As my constituency neighbour, the Health Secretary will be aware that Chigwell parish has no GP surgery of its own, requiring many of my constituents to travel to his constituency to access primary care. Given the Government’s top-down housing targets, what assurances can the Health Secretary provide that any new developments in Epping Forest will be accompanied by the delivery of adequate primary care infrastructure, rather than placing further pressure on already overstretched services? Will the Government support the long-standing call, championed by me, local Conservative councillors and Chigwell parish council, for the provision of a GP surgery within Chigwell parish?

[Stephen Kinnock]

I am not familiar with the details of that case, but I get the impression that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is. A really important part of our manifesto commitment was to end the 8 am scramble, which is all about access, and that is precisely what we are doing. In September 2024, patient satisfaction with ease of access stood at just 61%; today it stands at 73%. That is huge progress. It is all about getting better access, and building a primary care estate that is fit for purpose is a very important part of that. I would be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss the details of that specific case.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Stephen Kinnock]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and congratulate him on the addition of the facial hair. I am glad to see that he is joining that particular club—I think it is the only club we may both be a member of!

The Government are aware of the pressure on pharmacy; it is a major challenge that we are facing. We gave pharmacy a 19% uplift in the last spending review. Of all the sectors in my portfolio, that was the one that received the largest uplift. We are also looking to secure better progress with the use of technology, and we are looking at the medicines margin and the dispensing fee, recognising the significant financial pressures that pharmacies are under. Through reform and investment, we believe that we can turn the corner and rebuild pharmacy in our country.

[Dr Evans]

I appreciate the Minister’s answer. However, the answer to my question is: 650 contracts across England and Wales. He only had to look at the newspaper headlines from yesterday to see that—this is his Department and his portfolio.

The chair of the Independent Pharmacies Association, Leyla Hannbeck, has specifically warned that higher business rates and increases in national insurance contributions, which are both set by the Government, are to blame and are driving up costs, while pharmacy income—which, again, is set by the Government—remains fixed. Does the Minister accept that those tax decisions taken by his Government directly increase the costs and contribute to the loss of pharmacy contracts, and will he therefore raise this matter with the Chancellor immediately?

[Stephen Kinnock]

I think there is some dispute over the number that was on the front page of the Express. We are looking into that number and will certainly come back to the hon. Gentleman on it. On his broader point about the decisions that the Chancellor took at the last Budget, I suppose I have a question back to him: would he be cutting the £26 billion that this Labour Government are investing in the NHS, and if not, how would he be paying for it?

[Mr Speaker]

I think just stick to the responsibility of being in government, Minister; don’t worry about the Opposition.

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[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)]

13. What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to NHS dental services in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes constituency.

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

As my hon. Friend knows, we inherited an NHS dentistry system in crisis. This Government are determined to fix it with fundamental reform of that vital service by the end of this Parliament. Since last April, we have delivered extra urgent dental appointments nationwide, and last month we announced new measures to get the right care to the right people at the right time, incentivising dentists to offer more NHS care.

[Melanie Onn]

The latest NHS statistics show that the Government really have the bit between their teeth as 7,000 more children saw a dentist in 2024-25 than in the previous year in the Humber and North Yorkshire integrated care board area. However, the rate for adults has slipped from 43% to 41% over the same period. How quickly does the Minister think that my adult constituents in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes will benefit from more appointments and more dentists?

[Stephen Kinnock]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on the pun in her question. There is good news, in that we are making progress on children’s oral health, but we accept that we still have a way to go on the broader picture. We are making 27,196 additional urgent appointments available in the Humber and North Yorkshire ICB area. Our reforms, which I announced in December, will kick in from April of this year. They will significantly increase the unit of dental activity fee rate that we pay for urgent care to incentivise more dentists to do urgent NHS dentistry. We also have the golden hello system and a number of other measures that we are taking to address underserved areas. A lot has been done, but there is still a long way to go.

Topical Questions

[Tom Collins (Worcester) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

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[Ben Goldsborough (South Norfolk) (Lab)]

T3. My South Norfolk constituents welcome the Government’s commitment to 250 new neighbourhood health centres. For rural areas such as mine, where healthcare can be miles away, this is a real turning point. Long Stratton is a growing town, yet it is distant from Norfolk’s main health hubs. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how delivering a neighbourhood health centre for Long Stratton will dramatically improve health outcomes in South Norfolk?

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

We are committed to delivering 250 centres by 2035, with a progressive roll-out over this Parliament. Early sites are focused on areas of greatest need, with consideration of factors including deprivation and access. Integrated care systems are in the process of planning the best holistic local configuration of a neighbourhood service. I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the potential for a neighbourhood health centre for Long Stratton.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

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[Mr James Frith (Bury North) (Lab)]

T4.  Following my recent meeting with Bury’s child and adolescent mental health services, can I ask the Secretary of State whether he has considered the merits of separating neurodiversity services from core CAMHS mental health provision? Will he meet me and Bury’s health leaders to discuss this approach, given the rising number of referrals in the system, the long waiting times, the workforce pressures and the growing risk of overmedicalisation?

[Stephen Kinnock]

My hon. Friend is right that NHS mental health, ADHD and autism services have never fully met the needs of the population in a tailored, personalised or timely way. The independent review into prevalence and support for mental health conditions, autism and ADHD will explore the current challenges facing clinical services. My hon. Friend the Minister for mental health is currently overseas on departmental business, but I am sure that he would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend on his return.

[Ian Roome (North Devon) (LD)]

T2.   Over Christmas, I was contacted by constituents in North Devon who have been without NHS dental care for nearly 20 years—one with a tooth held together with superglue. When will the Government reform the dental contract and properly tackle recruitment and retention, especially in rural areas, so that we stop the haemorrhaging of dentists from the NHS in the longer term?

[Stephen Kinnock]

We are in negotiation with the British Dental Association about the long-term contract reform that is so clearly needed, but I also draw the hon. Member’s attention to the announcement I made in December about a range of interim reforms, particularly on urgent work, where we are significantly increasing the fee rate for urgent dental activity. That will kick in from April and will make a real difference in access to urgent care.

[Sojan Joseph (Ashford) (Lab)]

T5. I thank the Secretary of State for his letter following the concerns I expressed about corridor care at the William Harvey hospital during Health and Social Care oral questions in October. He noted the decisive steps taken to reduce the pressure, including employing more doctors, freeing up beds and accelerating hospital discharges. However, after 14 years of under-investment, corridor care has become normalised in parts of the NHS. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that they meet their commitment and we see an end to corridor care at the William Harvey hospital?

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[Mr Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

T8. Currently, not a single NHS dentist in Hartlepool is taking on new patients, and many of my constituents are desperate. We have made real progress on urgent care, including a new urgent dental access centre, but it is not enough. What more will be done to fix NHS dentistry in Hartlepool and across the country?

[Stephen Kinnock]

My hon. Friend is right that, although we are making progress on urgent treatment with the urgent dental access centre that he mentioned, there is a real challenge with new routine care in Hartlepool. We are looking to improve that unacceptable situation, which we inherited, by offering dentists £20,000 to work in underserved areas and making it a requirement for new dentists to practise in the NHS. However, he is right to point out that the situation is not acceptable and we have to improve it.

[Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)]

The Government’s interim dental measures will of course be welcomed by residents in North Dorset, but they know, as I do, that we in this place have been discussing the inadequacy of the dental contract for years. What they and I cannot understand is why it will take until the end of this Parliament, as the Minister told us just a little while ago, and not sooner, to sort out that big problem and turbocharge NHS dentistry in rural North Dorset.

[Stephen Kinnock]

I have a huge amount of respect for the hon. Gentleman, but I have to say that I am a little taken aback to be told about the lack of progress when the Conservatives had 14 years to sort out NHS dentistry. Nevertheless, we are engaging intensively with the BDA. The interim reforms, which kick in from April, will make a big difference, as I have said, but we are looking to put the long-term reforms in place from 2027 onwards. We want this situation to be rectified by the end of this Parliament, not to have a new contract by the end of this Parliament.

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[Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

I was fascinated by the Minister’s earlier answer about the closure of pharmacies, because there has been fantastic news in Lee-on-the-Solent in my constituency: a new pharmacy wants to open there. Local people are desperate for a second pharmacy in Lee-on-the-Solent and the local GP practice supports it. The problem is that the Hampshire ICB has rejected it. Does the Minister share my disappointment that local people are not going to be served in the correct way by pharmacy provision, and will he meet me to discuss this?

[Stephen Kinnock]

That does sound somewhat baffling, given that there is demand for the service. Pharmacies play an absolutely vital role in our communities. I would be happy to meet the hon. Lady to discuss the details further.

[Emma Foody (Cramlington and Killingworth) (Lab/Co-op)]

T10. A number of local residents have been in touch recently following the announcement that a Cramlington dentist will no longer be offering NHS services and is moving to private practice only, which has led to a number of people being unable to access services locally. What more can the Government do to ensure that my constituents have access to appropriate local services?

[Stephen Kinnock]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out this issue. As I have said, the reforms that we announced in December will make a major difference, because dentists have not been incentivised to do NHS dentistry. That requires us to significantly increase the UDA, as we are doing, but there is a range of other measures that we need to take. I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the specific details of that case.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

Failed private finance initiative schemes from the noughties in three Leicester hospitals resulted in the NHS being sued for almost £30 million, despite no work being carried out. Leicester hospitals are still without any new buildings. I ask the Minister that expensive, inefficient financial packages—£60 billion of private money costing £306 billion of taxpayers’ money—not be utilised for future projects.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

To date, Baroness Casey’s review of adult social care has been pretty impenetrable, but in York we want to engage and innovate. Will my hon. Friend provide Parliament with a briefing on the progress, scope and scheduling of the review? The clock is ticking and the crisis is growing.

[Stephen Kinnock]

My hon. Friend and I have discussed this matter. I hope that her issues in accessing the commission, which I know has made contact with her, have been resolved. The commission is, of course, an independent body, but I am in no doubt at all that parliamentarians will hold it to account through the mechanisms at their disposal—the Select Committee, for example. The Government are not sitting on our hands; we are delivering the fair pay agreement, we have delivered the biggest uplift to unpaid carers since 1976, and we are pursuing a range of other measures to get our adult social care system fixed and fit for purpose.

[Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

We have just been notified that William Blake House in my constituency—a residential home for people with severe learning disabilities—has been issued with a winding-up notice, and the court hearing is tomorrow. The families were given no notice of any of this, and no consultation was carried out, so naturally they are worried about what provision will be in place for their loved ones. Will the Minister meet me urgently to discuss putting a contingency plan in place for them?

[Stephen Kinnock]

I thank the hon. Lady for that question. I am not familiar with the details, of course, so might she write to me with the clear details? I am sure that officials will then take the matter up as a matter of urgency.

[Matt Bishop (Forest of Dean) (Lab)]

Parents supported by Harry’s Pals, a small charity, consistently describe the fragmented and emotionally exhausting system of accessing support for children with life-limiting conditions. Will the Secretary of State commit to exploring a dedicated national support pathway for parent carers, including better access to counselling and respite, and will he meet me and Hayley Charlesworth, the founder of Harry’s Pals, who is watching at home today with Harry, to discuss how we can better support families in the Forest of Dean and nationally?

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[Alex McIntyre (Gloucester) (Lab)]

Last Friday, I went on a visit to my fantastic local GP service, Hadwen Health. The team there are already using technology and AI to make sure patients get the right care that they need, but they told me that there is currently no technological solution that allows patients to both be triaged and directed to their hard-working family doctor when booking online. What steps is the Department taking to support the roll-out of technology in GP surgeries like Hadwen Health in Gloucester?

[Stephen Kinnock]

I am a little bit surprised; I think that that technology does exist. I have visited a couple of GP practices where the online booking system gives the patient the option to specify the doctor that she or he would like to see. I would be happy to connect my hon. Friend with relevant officials in the Department, so that they can connect with the GP surgery to resolve that issue.

[Andrew Lewin (Welwyn Hatfield) (Lab)]

In NHS Providers data published just before Christmas, we learned that in East and North Hertfordshire NHS trust, the number of people waiting for treatment has fallen more than in any other trust in the country. That is fantastic news for my community. Will my right hon. Friend commend all the staff involved in this success, and does he agree that this is precisely what people voted for when they voted for change in the NHS?

[Zöe Franklin (Guildford) (LD)]

In Bellfields and Slyfield ward in my constituency, the local GP surgery is squeezed into a unit that is part of a parade of shops, and it is clearly no longer the size needed for the growing community. The team do a great job in spite of the challenges. Will the Minister set out the steps the Department is taking to support community health hubs in areas like this ward, in order to bring GP and wider services together locally and improve facilities and access for my residents?

[Stephen Kinnock]

We have the £102 million primary care estate fund, which can help with refurbishments and improving the functionality of primary care, particularly GP surgeries. If the hon. Member writes to me about the specifics of that case, I am sure that the relevant officials can give her the answer she needs.

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

The Health Secretary has said he is “shocked” at the inability to acknowledge and then remedy state failures. It is now two years since the Hughes report was published, but no timeframe has been set for compensation for the valproate scandal. When will my constituents Colleen and Andy get the redress they need, so that they can make long-term provision for their son?

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[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

A constituent of mine who attends Dudley Voices for Choice has autism with complex mental health needs and is at risk of self-harm. Despite not being able to use a telephone, they are still required by mental health services to do so, and therefore they cannot be treated. They were told that they are non-compliant, so their support was reduced. What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to ensure that mental health services offer alternative ways to communicate for those who cannot use a telephone? I would like to thank Sarah Offley and the team at Dudley Voices for Choice.

[Stephen Kinnock]

We are recruiting 8,500 more mental health workers by the end of this Parliament. The Mental Health Act 2025 reforms will ensure that people with a learning disability, autistic people and people with the most severe mental health conditions have greater choice and control over their treatment and receive the dignity and respect they deserve.

[Blake Stephenson (Mid Bedfordshire) (Con)]

Constituents of mine have been reporting that they have been directed to hospital for regular blood tests, rather than having them at their GP surgery. Will the Secretary of State outline how he will ensure that blood tests are done in a community setting, which surely must be much better value for the taxpayer and much more convenient for patients?