MP Ben Maguire Says Cornwall Returned £1.22m of Dental Budget

Cornwall’s health commissioners returned £1.22 million of their dental budget to the Government rather than spend it on patients. That is more than it would cost to give every primary school child in the county a dental check-up.

The figure was uncovered by Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, through a Freedom of Information request to NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board.

What the money could have paid for

Maguire says the unspent £1.22 million could have funded more than 40,000 visits to an NHS dentist for his constituents. He points out it would have covered a dental check-up for every primary school pupil in Cornwall, of which there are 42,024. At an average of £28 per unit of dental activity, seeing every child would cost around £1.18 million.

He says more than half the children in Cornwall have missed out on dental visits because of a shortage of NHS provision. A previous FOI request by the MP established that the number of children attending A&E at Treliske in need of urgent dental treatment has doubled in recent years.

📷Photo of Ben meeting with the team from Smile Together who provide emergency dental care.

Why the ICB says it happened

In its response to the FOI request, the ICB confirmed the £1.220 million was returned to NHS England. It said the underspend in 2024/25 “was due to reduced activity and slippage against investment.” The board added that it was fully spent in 2025/26 and expects to fully spend its dental allocation in 2026/27 and beyond.

‘A kick in the teeth’

Maguire describes the failure to spend the money as “a real kick in the teeth to the public” and says health officials must make sure it does not happen again. He says he raised the issue with Cornwall’s ICB and the Director of Public Health after his election and was given assurances the money would be spent.

“Cornwall ICB, who returned the £1.22 million to NHS England in February, must introduce contingencies to ensure all of the health budgets allocated to Cornwall are spent,” he said. “It is unacceptable that money is returned, particularly in dentistry when there is a desperate need for more treatments.”

Where the funding could go

Maguire, who leads the North Cornwall Dental Action Group, says he hears daily from constituents who cannot find an NHS dentist. Some travel hundreds of miles for treatment while others go without regular check-ups because no NHS dentist will take them on.

He points to initiatives that would welcome the funding, including the Smile Together dental van, which he says has so far managed one visit to North Cornwall. He is also working with the Good’s Shed in Wadebridge to explore setting up an NHS clinic there.

What the ICB says it is doing

A spokesperson for NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board said:

“We understand how important access to an NHS dentist is for residents of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. That’s why we’ve taken action over dental providers who haven’t fully provided the NHS care they have been contracted for.

“Under NHS rules, when a dental provider doesn’t fulfil their contract the money must be returned and cannot be carried forward or used for other services. This meant we had to return money for some contracts between April 2024-March 2025.

“We have taken steps locally to improve this. We have reviewed underperforming contracts and used that funding to create new NHS dental services across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. These new contracts are currently being set up and mean in the current and last financial years our full dental budget is committed.

“We know there is more to do, and we are continuing to work with providers and partners to increase access to NHS dentistry and improve services for local people. This includes an NHS dental van providing appointments for veterans, rural communities and people who have waited the longest for an appointment, providing thousands of additional urgent and emergency appointments, offering additional ‘stabilisation’ appointments for patients following emergency dental care to treat other urgent dental issues, and supporting people to develop good oral health through supervised toothbrushing sessions to 10,000 primary school children and through the Smarter Smiles programme, delivered by Smile Together Dental CIC.”