To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 2 July 2003, Official Report, column 355W, on tooth decay, to what extent Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust have achieved (a) Target 1 and (b) Target 2. [124869]

The two national targets for tooth decay in children aged five years are:

• a reduction in the average number of decayed, missing and filled teeth to 1.0 teeth by 2003; and
• an increase in the proportion of children with no experience of cavities to 70 per cent. by 2003.

The survey conducted by the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry in 2001–02 showed that the average number of decayed, missing and filled teeth for five-year-old children in Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust was 1.32. The percentage of children with no experience of cavities was 62.7 per cent.