Backbench debate on Monday, 15 June 2026, in the House of Commons, led by Adam Dance. The answering members were Stephen Kinnock and Caroline Johnson.

NHS Dentistry

Motion that this House is concerned about NHS dentistry; notes that over a quarter of a million people have signed a petition calling for urgent action to save NHS dentistry and make it fit for the 21st century; regrets that nearly 14 million people were unable to access NHS dentistry in England in 2025; welcomes the Government's commitment to both tackle and rebuild dentistry for the long term; and calls on the Government to set out a clear timetable for the fundamental reform of the NHS dental contract, and to improve retention of NHS dentists and access for patients across the country. Agreed to on question.

Secondary information

Type: Parliamentary proceeding
Reference: 787 cc648-680
Session: 2026-27
Department: Department of Health and Social Care
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Related items: NHS dentistry in England
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Research briefings
Proceeding contributions: Adam Dance | 787 c648 (Link to this contribution)
I beg to move,
That this House is concerned about NHS dentistry; notes that over a quarter ...; Claire Hazelgrove | 787 c649 (Link to this contribution)
I was interested to hear about the hon. Member’s local survey. Ahead of the general election, aro...; Adam Dance | 787 c649 (Link to this contribution)
I agree with the hon. Member, and I will come on to that issue later. During covid, people missed...; Jim Shannon | 787 c649 (Link to this contribution)
I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing forward this debate, in which all of us across the Unit...; Adam Dance | 787 c649 (Link to this contribution)
I totally agree with the hon. Member, and I will come on to that point later. I hope the Minister...; Stephen Kinnock | 787 c649 (Link to this contribution)
indicated dissent.; Adam Dance | 787 cc649-650 (Link to this contribution)
I will move on, but if the Minister could remember to address that question later, it would be mo...; Simon Hoare | 787 c650 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, my near neighbour, for bringing forward this motion. He will...; Adam Dance | 787 c650 (Link to this contribution)
I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman, my constituency neighbour. I will come on to contracting...; Andrew Snowden | 787 c650 (Link to this contribution)
I have met with my local dentists. Does the hon. Member agree that part of the problem is the mas...; Adam Dance | 787 cc650-2 (Link to this contribution)
I completely agree with the hon. Member on that point. We have seen that in my constituency and o...; Sam Rushworth | 787 c652 (Link to this contribution)
I broadly agree with the hon. Gentleman’s list of demands. I wonder whether he could offer advice...; Adam Dance | 787 c652 (Link to this contribution)
There is always a dig like that from the Labour Benches. Look, that was back in 2010. I was 18 at...; Yasmin Qureshi | 787 cc652-4 (Link to this contribution)
I am proud to speak in this debate. I declare that I co-chair the all-parliamentary group on dent...; Ashley Fox | 787 cc654-5 (Link to this contribution)
The Government were elected on a platform that included a dentistry rescue plan. They correctly a...; Caroline Voaden | 787 c655 (Link to this contribution)
Does the hon. Member agree that the national golden hello scheme to attract and retain NHS dentis...; Ashley Fox | 787 cc655-6 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the hon. Lady for her point. I think golden hellos are a useful tool, but they are not su...; Judith Cummins | 787 c656 (Link to this contribution)
With an immediate four-minute time limit, I call Alison Hume.
8.38 pm; Alison Hume | 787 c656 (Link to this contribution)
Imagine being 81 years old, blind and waking up with a terrible toothache, and then imagine havin...; Julie Minns | 787 c656 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend and I know that our constituencies are somewhat similar. My Carlisle constituents ...; Alison Hume | 787 c657 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is right, and I hope that the Minister addresses the challenges faced by rural and...; Charlotte Cane | 787 c657 (Link to this contribution)
Almost half of children in Cambridgeshire have not seen a dentist in the last 12 months. That wil...; Sam Rushworth | 787 c657 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Member is making an excellent point, and I suspect that the ICB in that situation is fin...; Charlotte Cane | 787 c658 (Link to this contribution)
I welcome investment in NHS dentistry, but it is all just playing around at the edges unless and ...; Amanda Hack | 787 cc658-9 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the hon. Members for Yeovil (Adam Dance), for Waveney Valley (Adrian Ramsay) and for Farn...; Gregory Stafford | 787 c659 (Link to this contribution)
I thank my fellow sponsors of this debate: the hon. Members for Yeovil (Adam Dance) and for Waven...; Julian Lewis | 787 c659 (Link to this contribution)
Does my hon. Friend agree that the British Dental Association, which has supplied an excellent br...; Gregory Stafford | 787 c660 (Link to this contribution)
My right hon. Friend is precisely right. The BDA is absolutely right to call for those two things...; Andrew Snowden | 787 c660 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend mentions rural communities and dental deserts. My constituency, Fylde, is split be...; Gregory Stafford | 787 cc660-1 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend hits the nail on the head, and as in so many healthcare cases, rural constituencie...; Mary Kelly Foy | 787 cc661-2 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for granting this debate, and I declare an inte...; Adrian Ramsay | 787 cc662-3 (Link to this contribution)
It is a pleasure to co-sponsor the debate. In my constituency, registering with an NHS dentist as...; Adam Dance | 787 c663 (Link to this contribution)
Like me, the hon. Member represents a rural constituency. Does he agree that this issue affects u...; Adrian Ramsay | 787 c663 (Link to this contribution)
I absolutely agree with the hon. Member, who made an excellent speech in introducing this debate....; Jayne Kirkham | 787 cc663-4 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the hon. Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance) and others for securing this important debate.; Judith Cummins | 787 c664 (Link to this contribution)
With an immediate three-minute time limit, I call Richard Foord.
9.9 pm; Richard Foord | 787 cc664-5 (Link to this contribution)
I pay credit to my hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance) for working with the Backbench ...; Peter Prinsley | 787 cc665-6 (Link to this contribution)
The question before us this evening is quite simple: are we prepared to rebuild NHS dentistry as ...; Adrian Ramsay | 787 c666 (Link to this contribution)
I thank my fellow hon. Member from Suffolk for giving way. He will be aware that the University o...; Peter Prinsley | 787 c666 (Link to this contribution)
I thank my neighbour for his intervention. I agree that there is much that dental hygienists and ...; Gideon Amos | 787 c666 (Link to this contribution)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance), my constituency neighbour, on s...; Tessa Munt | 787 c667 (Link to this contribution)
I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and my hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance) for s...; Gideon Amos | 787 c667 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend and near neighbour is, as so often, exactly right. I completely agree that urgency...; Sam Rushworth | 787 cc667-8 (Link to this contribution)
It is now 9.20 pm, and I have waited all day to be able to say what I am going to say—in three mi...; Tim Roca | 787 c668 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech on behalf of his constituents, and he has mentioned de...; Sam Rushworth | 787 c668 (Link to this contribution)
I would like to see that change, and I urge the Minister not to delay the consultation on new pro...; Claire Young | 787 c669 (Link to this contribution)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance) for leading today’s debate. Across my T...; Mark Sewards | 787 cc669-670 (Link to this contribution)
Let me start by saying that I love dentists, and I will tell the House why. Twenty years ago, alm...; Sam Rushworth | 787 c670 (Link to this contribution)
Does my hon. Friend agree that this is a massive cost of living pressure for people who cannot af...; Mark Sewards | 787 c670 (Link to this contribution)
I absolutely agree we should consider that. It must be done within the fiscal rules and we must f...; Vikki Slade | 787 cc670-1 (Link to this contribution)
It is great to follow the hon. Member for Leeds South West and Morley (Mark Sewards) as I recall ...; Brian Mathew | 787 cc671-2 (Link to this contribution)
In my constituency of Melksham and Devizes in Wiltshire, in two years only 29% of adults were see...; Judith Cummins | 787 c672 (Link to this contribution)
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
9.36 pm; Helen Maguire | 787 cc672-4 (Link to this contribution)
The phrases “dental desert” and “DIY dentistry” are becoming so normalised that it is easy to for...; Judith Cummins | 787 c674 (Link to this contribution)
I call the shadow Minister.
9.43 pm; Caroline Johnson | 787 cc674-6 (Link to this contribution)
I congratulate the hon. Members for Yeovil (Adam Dance), Sunderland Central (Lewis Atkinson) and ...; Stephen Kinnock | 787 cc676-7 (Link to this contribution)
I congratulate the hon. Members for Yeovil (Adam Dance), for Waveney Valley (Adrian Ramsay) and f...; Ashley Fox | 787 c677 (Link to this contribution)
The Minister will recall that when he wrote to me on 23 April, he confirmed that under Labour 4% ...; Stephen Kinnock | 787 c677 (Link to this contribution)
Somerset is an outlier. There are significant problems in Somerset due to access to dentistry, fo...; Adam Dance | 787 c677 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the Minister for all his replies to my questions. Can he give me a timescale for when the...; Stephen Kinnock | 787 c677 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the hon. Member for that. As I have said, the contract will be reformed within this Parli...; Julian Lewis | 787 c678 (Link to this contribution)
Does the Minister accept that there is a high degree of unanimity in all parts of the House about...; Stephen Kinnock | 787 c678 (Link to this contribution)
I suspect that the entire country blames the situation far more on the 14 years of neglect and in...; Tessa Munt | 787 c678 (Link to this contribution)
I cannot understand why we have to wait an extra year to introduce that provision. It will take t...; Stephen Kinnock | 787 cc678-9 (Link to this contribution)
It is because we have to work out, particularly with employment lawyers, exactly how the modaliti...; Adam Dance | 787 c679 (Link to this contribution)
It is late; I will be quick, so that we can all go home, brush our teeth and get some sleep. I th...
Subjects: Access Children Dental services Contracts Dentistry Fees and charges NHS Patients Recruitment Standards Training Cost of living Preventive medicine
Link: View this Parliamentary proceeding on hansard.parliament.uk

NHS Dentistry

Secondary information

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