Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide additional funding for local dental laboratories.

We recognise the importance of dental laboratories and the role they play in support of National Health Service dental services.

The independent pay review body for doctors and dentists recommended a 6% pay uplift for 2024/25. The Government accepted the recommendation and has uplifted NHS primary care dentistry contract values by 4.64%, net of pay and expenses elements. Laboratory costs are part of the expenses element of this uplift.

The Government implemented the overall uplift to contract values on 29 January. Uplifted payments will be made in March, backdated to 1 April 2024.