Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 July 2021 to Question 24254 on Dental Services, what discussions he has had with Health Education England on the provision of NHS dentists and dental training places in areas where residents are unable to access NHS dental services.

Health Education England are working with system partners, including NHS England and Improvement, to address regional shortages of dentists by ensuring that postgraduate training place numbers are better aligned with the needs of local populations.

The Government has also temporarily adjusted the cap on the number of dental school places, meaning that more students will have the opportunity to study dentistry this year.

Working with Health Education England and partners, we continue to monitor current arrangements for the provision of National Health Service dentists and dental training places to support workforce planning.