Dental Services: Finance
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department plans to provide for NHS dentistry in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
Prior to 2023/24 there was no specific dental budget allocation, as dentistry formed part of a wider budget which included community pharmacy and optometry. Since 2023/24, there has been a specific dental ringfence allocation for integrated care boards. This includes primary, secondary, and community dentistry and is set net of patient charges. The following table shows the dental budget as a proportion of the total National Health Service budget in each of the last two years:
Year | Proportion of NHS budget |
2023/24 | 2.17% |
2024/25 | 2.12% |
Note: the figure for 2025/2026 is not yet confirmed.
The details of budget allocations within each Government department for future years is still being determined. The Department is working to provide the detail and certainty needed on future funding and spending plans. This includes preparing for the first multi-year planning round for the NHS in more than half a decade, which will give local leaders the certainty they need to deliver.
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