As part of his ongoing efforts to improve local access to dental services, James Wild MP has called on the government to return £7.8 million of NHS dental funding originally allocated to Norfolk and Waveney which has been clawed back by NHS England.
In a letter to the Minister for Care, he has criticised this decision which is a serious setback for local families already struggling to access care.
Norfolk faces the lowest NHS dentist to patient ratio in England, with one dentist for every 3,177 people, which is almost twice the national average. Only around a third of adults and fewer than half of children have seen an NHS dentist in the past two years, well below national rates. Many families have reported they have been forced either to travel long distances or pay privately for treatment.
In 2024/25 the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board recorded a £7.8 million underspend on NHS dentistry due to ongoing recruitment problems and unfilled contracts. But rather than reinvesting these funds locally to meet urgent need, NHS England has clawed them back centrally which is equivalent to the loss of up to 278,571 Units of Dental Activity – one UDA is a check-up or three is for a filing.
James has consistently criticised the government’s failure to prioritise Norfolk’s dental crisis and called for sustained investment. As such, he continues to back the University of East Anglia’s new dental school which has now secured regulatory approval and local support.
While promising to train 40 dental students annually, progress remains stalled because the government has yet to allocate funding for student places. In June, James called on ministers to direct the Office for Students to allocate training places from September 2026 to help tackle Norfolk’s dental shortage.
In his letter to the Minister for Care, James Wild MP said:
“Norfolk & Waveney ICB has confirmed that the total effective underspend in 2024/5 was £7.8 million. This is an improvement on previous years underspend but is still a considerable sum and I am very concerned that NHS England has clawed this back rather than investing this resource in addressing the pressing local need
Can you confirm why the government policy is for these funds to be clawed back rather than being re-invested on dental services in an area where there is one of the lowest availabilities of NHS services? Had the underspend not been clawed back, there would have been provision for the equivalent of up to 278,571 additional UDAs. I urge you to reverse this decision and put the needs of people to access NHS dentistry first.”
Notes to Editors:
Please see below the full text of James’ letter to the Minister for Care:
Dear Minister,
NHS Dental Provision – North West Norfolk
North West Norfolk has one of the lowest numbers of dentists per population and at ICB level, in Norfolk and Waveney, it is estimated that there are 3,177 people per dentist, ranking the worst in the country in terms of population per dentist. This is compared to England’s national average of 1,791 people per dentist.
Norfolk & Waveney ICB has confirmed that the total effective underspend in 2024/5 was £7.8 million. This is an improvement on previous years underspend but is still a considerable sum and I am very concerned that NHS England has clawed this back rather than investing this resource in addressing the pressing local need.
Can you confirm why the government policy is for these funds to be clawed back rather than being re-invested on dental services in an area where there is one of the lowest availabilities of NHS services? Had the underspend not been clawed back, there would have been provision for the equivalent of up to 520,000 additional UDAs. I urge you to reverse this decision and put the needs of people to access NHS dentistry first.
Following our most recent exchange during Health Questions on 17 June regarding a Dental School at the University of East Anglia (UEA), you committed to reporting back within a matter of weeks once allocations within the overall financial envelope had been confirmed. The UEA heard this week they have received approval from the General Dental Council to become a provider of dental undergraduate training – they are now just waiting on the Office for Students (OfS) to allocate places.
Once again, I stress the importance of this situation and request that you allocate funding to enable the OfS to allocate new training places at the UEA from 2026. Your support and the provision of adequate funding is crucial to the success of the new dental school at the UEA and improved dental provision in Norfolk.
