Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what procedures his Department has put in place to deal with the consequences of a failure by the General Dental Council to meet key tests set by the Professional Standards Authority.

The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) is an independent body and the Department does not have any input into the reviews or investigations it carries out. In its annual report the PSA have recommended to each of the regulators that they:

- review this year’s performance review report as a whole, taking account of the PSA’s views, and consider whether they can learn and improve from the practices of the other regulators;

- address any areas of concern that are highlighted in this year’s performance review report; and

- ensure that their Councils review and discuss the performance review report in a public Council meeting.