Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of NHS dental practices were in dispute with her Department about reconciling payments for NHS work on 30 January 2024; and what assessment she has made of the (a) clarity and (b) ease of the reconciliation process.

Year-end reconciliation is a national process carried out, in the most part, by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA), and commissioned by NHS England.

As of 31 January 2024, there were 38 unresolved queries from contract holders about their year-end outcome for 2022/23. This equates to 0.6% of the 6673 contracts within the NHS BSA responsibility to reconcile. There are a further proportion of contracts, 1,946, that remain within the remit of integrated care boards to reconcile, where data is not held centrally.

The process of year end reconciliation is a vital part of ensuring contract holders are held accountable for the activity they have been contracted to deliver, and to ensure taxpayers get value for money from the £3 billion National Health Service dentistry budget.