Between 2010-2020, the Government reduced funding to NHS dentists by a quarter. Labour called a debate in the House of Commons on access to NHS dentistry and I made the point that the Government is woefully underdelivering on this issue. Difficulties with accessing NHS dentistry has been an issue since before COVID-19 hit. The pandemic has only made things worse and the Government has been too slow to act. I’ll keep urging it to step up and fix this issue.
 
The Public Accounts Committee published a report on the Child Maintenance Service. This is the system set up to support payments made by separated families to cover the cost of a parent raising a non-resident parent’s child. Around half of children in separated families – 1.8 million children – continue to receive no support from their non-resident parent. Some groups, including black families, are missing out more than others and the Government is not really interested in finding out why that might be. See here to read the report in full and see here for a summary.
 
And I was pleased to be out and about on a roving surgery in Hackney Wick last weekend speaking to constituents. I picked up a number of disrepair issues, particularly at housing association estates, as well as issues with antisocial behaviour. If you ever need my help, please let me know by emailing meg.hillier.mp@parliament.uk with your full postal address.