Health minister refuses to answer dentist funding question during live interview

The Health and Social Care Secretary declined to say whether the dentistry plan is being funded by an underspend in the NHS dentistry budget.

Victoria Atkins was asked about shadow health secretary Wes Streeting’s claim that there was a £400 million underspend in the NHS dentistry budget last year.

On Wednesday (7 February), she told BBC Breakfast the Government’s plan is backed by “an additional £200 million”.

Ms Atkins evaded presenter Sally Nugent’s repeated questioning on whether that is coming from an NHS dentistry budget that is far lower than it was 10 years ago, saying: “The budget is £3 billion. We are spending more on the NHS than we ever have.”