To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has for the long-term future of dentistry in the NHS; [81875](2) what plans he has to ensure a comprehensive NHS dentistry service is available throughout the country; [81874]
(3) what is the Government's long-term policy on NHS dentistry. [81873]
These issues are under consideration as part of the strategy for National Health Service Dentistry that we will publish in due course.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what target his Department has set for the number of dentists providing NHS services per 1,000 population. [81865]
Health authorities are responsible for monitoring the provision of National Health Service dental services in the area. The table shows that on 31 December of each year from 1996 to 1998, there was an increase in the number of dentists providing general dental services per 1,000 population.
| General Dental Service: Number of GDS dentists 1 per 1,000 population at 31 December in England | ||
| Year | Number | Per 1,000 population |
| 1996 | 16,341 | 0.33 |
| 1997 | 16,722 | 0.34 |
| 1998 | 17,266 | 0.35 |
| 1 The number of dentists are a head count not whole time equivalents | ||
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many bids have been received from dentists in Northavon since the launch of his Investing in Dentistry initiative; and how many of these have been successful. [81955]
No Investing in Dentistry funding requests have been received from Northavon.