Given that thousands of children do not have access to an NHS dentist, Mike Penning has called for a reinstatment of dental inspections in schools.

Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead) (Con): Between 1 million and 3 million people in England and, obviously, thousands of children, do not get access to an NHS dentist. Would not one of the ways forward for improving child health be to reinstate inspections in schools, as our party has agreed to do, rather than ignoring the suggestion made in the review that came out yesterday?

Andy Burnham: I certainly will not be ignoring the review that came out yesterday, which has laid out an important vision for NHS dentistry, but I agree with the hon. Gentleman that improving children’s dental health is an important objective. I have always also favoured public health measures in this area, such as water fluoridation, and I am happy to reassert that today. However, I am also clear that we must work to make sure that every child can get accesss to an NHS dentist, and I would happily work with him on that objective.

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