To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the average distance that a person had to travel to see an NHS dentist in (a) Southend-on-Sea, (b) each constituency in Essex and (c) England (i) in each year since 1997 and (ii) at the latest date for which information is available. (210690)

The requested information is not available. It is for primary care trusts to commission local dental services to meet local needs. PCTs are expected to develop robust commissioning plans. These will include consideration of access to local dental services at the time and place that people want.