Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department provides incentives for universities to (a) expand and (b) introduce dental training programmes.

The department works closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to help ensure the NHS has the dentistry workforce that it needs, including funding for dental schools and the training of dental students.

The government needs to ensure that the student funding system is financially sustainable and funding arrangements are reviewed each year. We will continue to engage with DHSC to consider the financial support that dental students receive.

The government is preparing the 10 Year Health Plan which will set out a bold agenda to reform and repair the NHS. Ensuring that we have the right people, in the right places and with the right skills, will be central to this vision. The government will also publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.

The department continues to work closely with DHSC on the 10 Year Health Plan.