---

Business of the House

The House expects a high degree of assiduity from the Leader of the House, but he has been dragging his feet. I have raised the crisis in NHS dentistry before at business questions, and drawn attention to the fact that 1,600 people in Spalding in my constituency had to queue for eight hours to register with an NHS dentist. The matter was raised again at Tuesday's Health questions, in respect of a different part of the country, Devon. When will we have a debate or statement on the extent of the crisis in NHS dentistry? The crisis is profound, and the Government must give a clear indication of what they intend to do about it so that they can fulfil the pledge made by the Prime Minister after the 1997 election that everyone would have access to an NHS dentist.