Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 26
21st Report - Fixing NHS Dentistry
Published 4 Apr 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Fixing NHS Dentistry All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
UDA payment rates are not however, uniform across the country with evidence submitted by the British Dental Association suggesting, for example, that the average UDA rate in North East London ICB is more than £7 greater than the average rate in Lincolnshire ICB.76 Government took the decision in 2022 to introduce a minimum UDA value of £23, with NHSE telling us that this decision did lead to some “slight improvements in activity”.77 As part of the dental recovery plan, NHSE and DHSC agreed to push this minimum value up to £28, leading to 876 individual contracts being uplifted to this new minimum rate. This was a ministerial decision rather than an evidenced–based one, with DHSC’s own analysis unconvinced as to whether the uplift would lead to any real increases in contract delivery.78 The impact of the uplift is not yet known in quantitative terms, but NHSE told us that the qualitative feedback has been positive in terms of supporting the sustainability of the affected practices.79
From: Public Accounts Committee, 21st Report - Fixing NHS Dentistry (HC 648), 4 April 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty-first Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty-first report from Session 2024-26
Published 18 September 2025.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty-first report from Session 2024-25
Published 10 July 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on each recommendation set out in the response, giving target dates for several actions and noting that dental contract reform "will take time".
- On contract reform, a realistic timetable for a new contract "will be determined by the scale of changes under consideration and following consultation". Amendments to the current contract would be expected in 2026-27, "subject to consultation and any necessary regulatory changes".
- On the dental recovery plan, NHSE is to write to the Committee in Autumn 2025 with its analysis of the main initiatives. Dental vans are excluded because the government "decided not to implement a national programme of mobile dental vans".
- On funding for 2025-26, NHSE "would also note that there has been no reduction in dental funding", and says the ringfence rises from £3,974 million to £4,104 million and is extended into 2026-27.
- On the workforce, the department will "carefully consider the outcome of the consultation" on a graduate "tie-in" and then publish its response, with a target date of Winter 2025.