Stephen Kinnock

I am slightly surprised to hear that. The presentation I received on the portal showed there was a clear channel through to having a more discursive engagement with the platform. I will take that feedback away and, through officials, will come back to the hon. Lady on that point. I thank the hon. Member for Honiton and Sidmouth once again for bringing the issue of dentistry in the south-west to this debate. On 4 July, we inherited a profoundly challenging fiscal position, but I can assure him that we remain committed to tackling the immediate crisis facing NHS dentistry, and that we are taking steps to make delivery more efficient through long-term reform. To recap, we are committed to providing 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, delivering the golden hello scheme to recruit more dentists in areas of greatest need, bringing in preventive measures to improve our children’s oral health and negotiating long-term contract reforms to make NHS dentistry more attractive. Those steps will help tackle the place-based disparities commonly seen in dentistry, and ensure that everyone who needs to access NHS dentistry can get it, including in the south-west. Our NHS dentistry is broken after 14 years of Tory neglect and incompetence, but it is not beaten. In 1945, it fell to Clement Attlee’s Labour Government to create a health system for the 20th century. Now, 79 years later, it falls to this Government to clear up the mess we have inherited, to get NHS dentistry back on its feet and to build an NHS dentistry service fit for the 21st century. That is what we shall do.