Speeches by Kinnock.

“If hon. Members will bear with me, I will make a little bit more progress and then come back to them. Many Liberal Democrat colleagues have made the argument that with hospitals in the state they are in, it is more important than ever to have a robust social care system in place. As the Minister for Care, I agree with …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington South (Sarah Hall) for securing this important debate, which really is a tribute to her and to her constituents, Ibbie and her family, who have clearly been through a very challenging time but have shown tremendo…”

“I thank the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Joy Morrissey) for securing this important debate. I wish to take this opportunity to thank all those who work or volunteer in the hospice and palliative care sector for the care and support that they provide to patients, families and loved ones when they need it most. This Gov…”

“My hon. Friend speaks with tremendous and deep knowledge of the sector. I welcome the work that she is doing on the commission on palliative and end-of-life care, and we very much look forward to seeing the outcomes and results of that. My hon. Friend is right that if we are to make the three big shifts at the heart of…”

“I would not dare to speak from this Dispatch Box on behalf of the Chancellor, but I am absolutely clear that when she did the autumn Budget, she knew that she had to dig us out of a very deep hole indeed, and that required levying taxes that she had to levy. The line had to be drawn somewhere and that is where the line…”

“The definition of where employer national insurance will be levied is based on the Office for National Statistics’ definition of where it should be, and it is the same definition used by previous Governments. I do not think that point is up for debate.”

“The exemption was given to 100% full-time workers within the NHS; in essence, hospitals. As regards GPs, dentists and care providers, ENICs are being levied on those other parts of the health and care sector. Every aspect of my portfolio is therefore seeing ENICs being levied.”

“The decisions on ENICs and where they are being levied have been made. I think it was made very clear that the line was drawn where it was drawn. Any attempt to try to reverse engineer where that line should be drawn would not really be aligned with the policy decisions that were made at the Budget.”

“I am happy to look into that. Healthcare in Scotland is devolved, but all the nations of the United Kingdom can learn a huge amount from each other—nobody has a monopoly on good ideas—and it would be excellent to find out a little more about the issues my hon. Friend referred to. The four framework priorities form the …”

“I am pleased to confirm that I am meeting the BDA in the coming days. The negotiations are moving forward. There is no perfect payment system, and there is a need to get the balance right between ensuring that we have a viable system that does not deliver underspends in the NHS contract, which is absurd, and that we de…”

“I thank the hon. Member for that intervention. It is an excellent idea, and it is something that we have seen in other parts of the country. If he would care to write to me about that, I would be more than happy to take that issue up. In the south-west, the golden hello scheme has already led to seven new dentists on t…”

“We are very keen to ensure that targets are being met, and the ICB clearly needs to ensure that that is happening, so I would be happy to do that. Perhaps the hon. Lady could write to me so that we can get all the facts on the table, then we can take action accordingly. We will make the difficult decisions necessary to…”

“I will follow up on those points and write to the right hon. Gentleman. As he knows, the Green Paper is out for consultation. Although the Government have made decisions about some measures, we are consulting and engaging on a number of others. It is very important that we see all the issues that he raises in the round…”

“National funding has increased over the years, as the hon. Lady will know. The question is whether that funding channels through to ICBs. The Government’s view is that ICBs are best placed to make decisions as close as possible to the communities that they serve and to target and, if necessary, reallocate funding accor…”

“I take the hon. Gentleman’s point about the ringfence, but in a way, ringfencing addresses the symptoms, rather than the cause, of the problem. The fundamental cause of the problem is the amateurish way in which the previous Government set up the NHS dentistry contract so that it does not incentivise dentists to do NHS…”

“I absolutely agree. Two big things need to happen. First, the General Dental Council needs to do more to get more exams in place for those very well-qualified dentists. Of course, they have to pass the British exam. We cannot have people practising in Britain who have not passed that exam, but the availability of the e…”

“My hon. Friend puts her finger on the fundamental problem, which is that the NHS dental contract simply does not incentivise dentists to do NHS work. That is the fundamental reason why we are in this bizarre situation where demand for NHS dentistry is going through the roof, yet there is a consistent underspend in the …”

“We will absolutely ensure that integrated care boards are delivering to the target they have been set. If we see any evidence of slowing down or backsliding, we will certainly intervene to ensure that appointments are accelerated. I would also be more than happy to receive representations from my hon. Friend if he feel…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship again this morning, Mr Stuart. I thank the hon. Member for Frome and East Somerset (Anna Sabine) for securing this important debate on access to dentistry in Somerset. We know that there are challenges in accessing NHS dentistry across the country, with some areas facing a…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your maiden chairship today, Mr Stuart. I am extremely grateful to the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) for securing the debate and raising this important topic. I know that, as a Member of this House and chair of the APPG on eating disorders, she has been a doughty champion for thos…”