Speeches by Foord.

“In 2023 the Hong Kong police issued arrest warrants for eight overseas activists under the national security law. What are Ministers doing to challenge the extraterritorial reach of the national security law?”

“Devon county council children’s services was assessed by Ofsted in April. It found that the children’s front door service was effective, after previously having been deemed by Ofsted to be inadequate. When the Secretary of State simplifies and consolidates the money available through the local government finance settle…”

“When we are talking with the European Union, if all this is now the responsibility of the Cabinet Office, what residual responsibility will the FCDO have?”

“This is the last one from me on this subject. Last week we heard the Governor of the Bank of England talking about how the UK’s exit from the European Union had weighed upon the economy, and he said we should be alert to welcome new opportunities. What role might the FCDO have in that?”

“Is that really enough FCDO expertise to move, given that you have the strength around negotiation and diplomacy?”

“How many individuals have moved?”

“I am probably all right until about 10 to, Chair.”

“The Secretary of State said a moment ago that the UK is working on a potential UK-EU security agreement. Might that include involvement in the European Peace Facility, which procures ammunition jointly?”

“Sir Philip, I would like to ask about the way the Government have decided to take EU relations out of the purview of the FCDO and move them into the Cabinet Office. How does that sit, given that the FCDO is to retain responsibility for Europe strategy, business as usual and bilateral relations, but the Cabinet Office i…”

“The Minister has kindly agreed to meet me and some Somerset colleagues later this month to discuss this issue. One thing I want to put on the agenda for that meeting is Connecting Devon and Somerset, which has cancelled three contracts previously and has just cancelled a fourth. I wonder if we have a special problem in…”

“rose—”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered NHS dentistry in the South West. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. I am grateful to the Chairman of Ways and Means to have been granted a debate on NHS dentistry in the south-west of England, which has particular problems. I know that the new Minis…”

“My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. Prevention is clearly cheaper than dealing with the problems down the line. There is no better example than offering check-ups for children’s dentistry.”

“I agree that emergency care should not suddenly become the routine. It is there for the most critical cases, but we have not seen that, given the drying up of NHS dentistry provision in our towns and villages.”

“The hon. Gentleman is right. We want to move NHS treatment back into primary care and away from the most critical acute care, yet it seems to me that primary care services are moving in the other direction.”

“I acknowledge what the Minister said about the Conservative Government’s legacy for NHS dentistry, which is apparent for us all to see. The Health Service Journal revealed last month that in Devon and Cornwall, the wait for an NHS dental appointment for a new patient is 1,441 days—almost four years. Many of my constitu…”

“The £86 million underspend relates to the south-west in particular.”

“I agree. One way in which we can share best practice is by thinking about not only training places, but the recognition of qualifications. After the UK’s exit from the European Union, we saw a breakdown in the number of EU dentists wanting to stay or being attracted here. With fewer eastern European dentists, in the so…”

“I am appalled to hear about those examples from my hon. Friend. The really disappointing thing is that some of the expense of secondary care could be avoided with a little more investment upstream in primary care. There is a clear disparity between the work that dentists do in the NHS and in private practice. There is …”

“Dentists need to be rewarded under an NHS dental contract that recognises that not everyone has the same ability to pay. Frankly, if a little money were invested early in preventive measures, some of our constituents would not cost the system nearly so much later. At a Westminster roundtable on dentistry last year, it …”