Adam Dance MP: speeches

Speeches

• 1 Jul 2026 · Flood Insurance: Reform of Flood Re · Hansard source

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  Ilminster residents, like Krystal, who have houses on floodplains tell me that they cannot obtain insurance, although people living up the road can. The Minister has confirmed that the eligibility criteria remain under review. Will she commit to reviewing the exclusion of homes built after 2009, and will she also undertake to make the whole process fairer, so people like Krystal, throughout my constituency, can obtain affordable insurance?

• 30 Jun 2026 · High Street Regeneration and Unlawful Storefronts · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Member agree that in rural areas we need a lot more banking hubs, because the banks are going, and that we should scrap business rates for start-ups and independent businesses? Rural communities are losing shops big time.

• 30 Jun 2026 · Defence Investment Plan · Hansard source

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  Page 68 of the DIP makes clear that Proteus, being developed at Leonardo in Yeovil, will be key to future warfare, but lots of other SMEs doing cutting-edge defence work in Yeovil tell me that their hiring and investment decisions have been trapped in limbo by delays to this plan. What reassurance can the Secretary of State give Yeovil’s other defence SMEs that the MOD actually has the money to back the research and development of advanced defence kit by Yeovil’s defence sector?

• 30 Jun 2026 · National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation · Hansard source

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  Yeovil hospital was included as part of the review after the temporary closure of its unit last year. Since then, families, frontline staff and I have repeatedly raised concerns with Government and NHS leaders about working culture, bullying, staffing levels and support. Today’s review backs that up, after months of feeling that our concerns have not been properly acted on. Can the Secretary of State detail what the Government are doing to improve staffing levels in rural maternity units and to address working culture, leadership, accountability and whistleblowing?

• 29 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T6. The universal credit team have admitted that they made the wrong decision on whether my constituent had to pay the bedroom tax for a room to care for his son, but they have only backdated payments to 25 May 2025, rather than 1 July 2024. Can the Minister ensure that my constituent gets a full refund, and set out how we are going to stop future errors on universal credit decisions?

• 29 Jun 2026 · Prisoner Early Release · Hansard source

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  My constituent was recently told that the person who was found guilty of grooming his child on social media could be released as part of the early release scheme. Does the Minister recognise the distress that that sort of news causes victims? Will he also tell the Yeovil constituency what progress the Government have made on increasing prison places and strengthening the Probation Service in the south-west? Victims do not just want to feel heard; they want to feel safe.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming: Financial Sustainability · Hansard source

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  I will be honest: I had quite a different speech prepared for today, but I have scrapped a lot of it following today’s statement. When it comes to farming, we have heard all sorts of fantastic slogans, promises and tributes but, when I meet farmers or hold my farming forum in Yeovil, it is clear to me that farmers have had enough of that. They have had enough of words, enough of this place and enough of this Government, and they want some clear action. With the publication of today’s farming road map, we are starting to go in the right direction, even if it has taken two years to get here. The road map sets out a vision for the future direction of farming, and I think that DEFRA has actually gone out and listened, which is a big change from the family farm tax and the sudden cut to SFI. However, there is no long-term funding to go with it. I expect that that is because of the Treasury, which I feel just does not understand rural communities and the farming sector, and I am sorry, but that is not good enough. Farmers like Nick from South Petherton are telling me that they have to take so many more costs on the chin. He and others across Yeovil and Somerset are paying thousands of pounds extra a week for diesel and fertiliser. I had so much more to say today but, given the time limit, I will stop there.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  What steps is the Secretary of State taking now to help farmers manage the impact of this extreme heatwave on food production and prices for consumers in Yeovil? What steps are we taking in the long term to be more ready for such weather?

• 23 Jun 2026 · Role of Big Tech in Society · Hansard source

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  I totally agree with my hon. Friend. Will the Minister set out the steps that the Government are taking with big tech and the Financial Conduct Authority to crack down on fraudsters? It is important that the Minister clearly sets out what new protections and awareness campaigns the Government are putting together, because the approach so far has not been enough. We need action.

• 23 Jun 2026 · Role of Big Tech in Society · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) for securing the debate. It goes without saying that big tech companies, like everyone else, should pay their fair share. They should not be allowed to harvest a child’s data or feature harmful content on their platforms. That is why the Government’s ban on harmful social media could be an important step towards better protection for young people online. However, I worry that enforcing a blanket ban will just see young people turn to virtual private networks and access totally unmodified content. VPN use went up more than 100% as soon as the ban in Australia was implemented. I also worry that taking away all social media platforms could be really damaging to some young people in Yeovil and beyond, who use social media to find their people, battle loneliness and express themselves. When done right, social media can be a space where young people can be so creative. I would welcome the Minister’s comments on how we balance those concerns with the vital need to protect young people. We Liberal Democrats have suggested a film-style age rating system for these platforms to keep children safe online. One area where we really do need to crack down is protecting the creative industries. Artists should not be finding their art being used by generative AI without their permission. We need the Government to clarify how they will go further on regulating the small print that big tech uses when it comes to what is used to teach AI models. Beyond social media, the change and innovation coming out of big tech could be a real focus for good. For example, assistive technology for people with special educational needs and disabilities can be life-changing, whether that is AI note takers like Plaud or more specific tech for things like speech and language disorders. I know that the Department for Education is working away at this, but we need a cross-Government approach to fund and suggest the best assistive tech for schools and the workplace. Related to that point, I ask the Minister to set out what discussions he has had with big tech companies about making their platforms—from social media to chatbots—more accessible for neurodiverse people, as there are lots of simple steps we can take. I would welcome a meeting with the Minister to set those out. Finally, I want to talk about an issue where I am seeing impact: fraud and scams. One constituent with learning difficulties lost £70,000 to a romance fraud. There were no guardrails on social media, and nor were the protections on online banking apps good enough. Although we got Lloyds to refund my constituent, it was an uphill struggle. But it is not just that scam; scammers are everywhere and targeting everyone and anyone in our community. Fraudsters are even using sponsored slots on Google to act as fake clean air zone charging websites. Veterans are being targeted by scam wealth creation and property investment influencers, who use their background as veterans to sell worthless courses that trap those targeted in a spiral of spending more and more on such courses. A veteran from my constituency was worried at first, but after being reassured by a veteran recruiting for the course and the slick social media presence of the influencers, he invested. Ultimately, he faced bankruptcy and nearly took his own life. Regulation is not keeping up, and the Government and big tech need to be doing more to crack down on fraud.

• 17 Jun 2026 · Abuse of Customer-facing Workers · Hansard source

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  The staff at St Michael’s Co-operative in Yeovil have reported to the police more than 100 incidents of shoplifting a week, but the police presence still is not forthcoming. Do you agree that rural police forces need a lot more funding?

• 17 Jun 2026 · Steel Tariffs · Hansard source

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  From Yeovil’s cutting-edge defence manufacturers to Thorn Wood Forge, which makes hand-crafted tools in Hinton Saint George, businesses in my constituency need steel that is currently not produced here. A 50% tariff would be disastrous. Will the Minister commit himself to exemptions for specialised steel grades that are not made in this country at the scale and spec needed by businesses in Yeovil?

• 17 Jun 2026 · Rural Pubs: Fiscal Support · Hansard source

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  The concerns about taxes that the hon. Member is raising have really affected Jack, the owner of the Ye Olde Poppe Inn in Tatworth, and Buddy, the owner of the Flying Fish. Does the hon. Member agree that we need to lower VAT for pubs?

• 17 Jun 2026 · Mental Health: Parity of Esteem · Hansard source

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  Tragically, my constituent’s husband, John, took his own life in 2021 after a mental health crisis while in the care of NHS mental health services. Does the hon. Member agree that we need more Government support and funding for access to quality mental health services in rural areas? If we were losing people in this way to physical conditions, it would be a national scandal.

• 17 Jun 2026 · Mental Health: Parity of Esteem · Hansard source

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  Some residents in rural Somerset have said to me that they are waiting 18 months to receive talking therapies. That is just not good enough.

• 16 Jun 2026 · Community Hospitals · Hansard source

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  I have had loads of emails from staff who were worried that Crewkerne community hospital was shutting down, because the communication from local NHS leaders has not been good enough—a problem we also had with the maternity unit. Does my hon. Friend agree that communication from NHS leaders needs to be a lot better?

• 15 Jun 2026 · NHS Dentistry · Hansard source

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  I agree with the hon. Member, and I will come on to that issue later. During covid, people missed appointments, and then got completely taken off the dental list. One local working in dentistry summed it up perfectly when they told me that, “NHS dentistry is in terminal decline.” Patients have had to either go private or go without a dentist. Just before the general election, I had a £1,600 bill for a root-canal filling that needed to be redone. I was fortunate, in that I could afford that, but many people would have had to have the tooth ripped out. In a cost of living crisis, this is more than a problem. In my public survey, 87% of respondents rated private dentistry as unaffordable. To be fair, the Government have made a good start by providing 100,000 urgent dental appointments. That is great, but the target is 700,000. I find it worrying that the Government seem to have quietly dropped their promise to deliver 700,000 more dental appointments by broadening the definition of “urgent” dental appointments for clinical reasons.

• 15 Jun 2026 · NHS Dentistry · Hansard source

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  There is always a dig like that from the Labour Benches. Look, that was back in 2010. I was 18 at the time—I turned 34 on Saturday. Things have changed. The hon. Gentleman’s Government is in power now, and they are making a bit of a mess of a few things at the moment. This is something they could be really proud of; they could deliver change for the people of this country who voted for them. Get out there, make change and get their teeth sorted.

• 15 Jun 2026 · NHS Dentistry · Hansard source

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  I totally agree with the hon. Member, and I will come on to that point later. I hope the Minister can clarify my point about broadening the definition of “urgent” dental appointments for clinical reasons, and I am happy to give way if he wants to do so now.

• 15 Jun 2026 · NHS Dentistry · Hansard source

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  I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman, my constituency neighbour. I will come on to contracting later, but he is completely right on that point. Dentists in my area are asking why there is no funding for them to do school visits, as they would be happy to come in and support. We also need to look more broadly at the way we inform families. What makes people in Yeovil really angry, however, is that we have all known for years what is wrong. We have an underfunded system with an NHS dental contract from 2006 that just does not work—100% of respondents I surveyed from dental practices in Yeovil said that the contract is not fit for purpose. Just about everyone agrees with that, as we have heard today. The biggest issue is units of activity, which are like tokens that the NHS gives to local dentists to use each year. The system basically sets quotas on the number of patients a dentist can see on the NHS. If they go over that quota, dentists are not paid and will have to cover the cost of material, lab work and other overheads. One of the biggest problems with the system is that it underpays for treating patients with complex and high needs. The Government’s recent changes are a welcome first step, with new care packages for patients with very high needs, and higher rates. NHS Somerset is doing all it can and has increased units of activity by 10,000 from 2025-26.

• 15 Jun 2026 · NHS Dentistry · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House is concerned about NHS dentistry; notes that over a quarter of a million people have signed a petition calling for urgent action to save NHS dentistry and make it fit for the 21st century; regrets that nearly 14 million people were unable to access NHS dentistry in England in 2025; welcomes the Government’s commitment to both tackle and rebuild dentistry for the long term; and calls on the Government to set out a clear timetable for the fundamental reform of the NHS dental contract, and to improve retention of NHS dentists and access for patients across the country. Around 14 million people, or one in four people, were unable to access NHS dental care in early 2025. Some 56% of children in Somerset did not see an NHS dentist in 2025. We are all seeing scenes that we would expect to read about in a Charles Dickens novel, not read about in the news, hear about from friends, or, if you are an MP, hear about almost every day from constituents. I have heard from 15 parents directly who have recently taken their children to hospital with dental issues. One local told me that her 86-year-old father was in so much pain that he pulled out his own teeth because he could not get dental treatment. I have heard from a military family and a pregnant woman who could not find NHS dental treatment. To highlight the scale of the problem, a local dental practice told me that every day, it takes in at the very least 10 to 15 unplanned emergencies, compared to two or three a few years ago. The situation has got so bad that some locals are telling me that it is cheaper, sometimes by hundreds of pounds, to fly to Spain to get dental treatment—and a tan, of course. One couple who lived in Thailand for a while even told me that when they came back to the UK, they worked out that it was easier and cheaper to stay registered in Thailand, and to go back there to get dental treatment. I mean, that is just insane! Over 93% of respondents to a survey of locals that I carried out recently were dissatisfied with the availability of NHS dentistry, and 69% of parents I surveyed said that getting an NHS dental appointment was either very difficult or impossible. It would be easier to pull teeth. Like many Members of this House, since being elected, I have been doing all I can to fix the issue. Luckily, we have had some real successes. After finding underspend in dentistry budgets in Somerset, I worked with our local NHS to open new dentists in Crewkerne and Chard. As a result, and with the new practice in Wellington, NHS dentistry has been brought to 20,000 extra people in Somerset, which is good news. However, the underused dentistry budget has fallen by 91% across the country. That means that there is not enough money to open new NHS dentist practices through underspend, which is a real problem, as we need NHS dentists in Yeovil, Ilminster and the rest of my constituency. It is not as if the workforce was not there. While the number of dentists registering to provide care in the UK has gone up to around 47,000, we are seeing the number of NHS dentists fall. Only around 25,000 dentists are doing some work for the NHS.

• 15 Jun 2026 · NHS Dentistry · Hansard source

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  Like me, the hon. Member represents a rural constituency. Does he agree that this issue affects us a lot worse in rural areas? We do not have universities close by to train dentists.

• 15 Jun 2026 · NHS Dentistry · Hansard source

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  I completely agree with the hon. Member on that point. We have seen that in my constituency and others in Somerset: one place will be on a higher rate, and another place will be on less. Ultimately, we need to get rid of that system if we want more NHS dentists, and look at alternatives, such as the weighted model suggested by the Health and Social Care Committee. But that is not all. One of the frustrating things that I found when we were setting up a new NHS dentist in my area is that dentists cannot prioritise locals. The dental contract means that people do not register with a dentist as they do a GP; they can attend any dental practice that is taking NHS patients, even if the practice is based miles away. That is because, technically, people are only with a dentist for as long as a course of treatment, which means that if someone lives in Yeovil, Crewkerne or Chard—or in the rest of my constituency—they do not have the right to be permanently registered with their local NHS dental practice. When we got the new practices open, there was no guarantee that locals who needed a dentist most would get one. That is madness. We had people travelling 200 or 300 miles to come to one of our new dental practices, and someone a mile down the road could not sign up. What is the point of opening a new dental practice in our area if it does not benefit all—or even half—of the people there? That part of the contract also means that to stay with their NHS dentist, someone needs to have six to 12-monthly appointments to keep their spot. That meant that a lot of people lost spots during covid. Local providers, the NHS and I are doing our best locally, but there is only so much we can do within those rules. I urge the Minister to make reintroducing permanent patient registration rights a priority in contract reforms. Even then, without proper funding such changes will not work. Since 2010, the amount of the NHS budget spent on dentistry has more than halved. Integrated care boards, which oversee local NHS services, have also been making serious budget cuts, with 50% of their staff having to be made redundant. That has left us in a situation where we invest less of our health budget in dentistry than any of our European neighbours, according to data from the OECD. At the same time, dental practices in Yeovil tell me that the cost of materials, energy and labour have gone through the roof, while missed appointments or last-minute cancellations are costing practices a fortune. We need the Minister to set out how the Government plan to fund NHS dentistry properly. Will he also set out what steps he is taking to support dentists with day-to-day costs, particularly in relation to resourcing and cancellations? There is one other big issue that we have to address: getting dentists to work and stay in rural areas such as Somerset. Mark, who is about to retire after 39 years as a dentist in Yeovil—thank you for your hard work, Mark—has been saying to policymakers and the press since the mid-1990s that we would end up in exactly this situation if we did not attract dentists to places like south Somerset, which lose out because NHS dentistry tends to be concentrated around dental training schools and urban centres. It is therefore a good start that the Government will require younger dentists to work in the NHS after graduation for around three years, but that is only a short-term fix, just like the golden hello bonus—another one-off fix. We need to write proper workforce planning for health and social care into law, including projections for dentists and dental staff. Similarly, the Government’s recent announcement of 50 new dental school places from 2027 is great, but that is a rise of only 6%—a drop of water in the dental Sahara desert that is the south-west. I think it is fair to say that dentists trained in Portsmouth will probably stay around there and instead of coming to fill demand in Somerset, which is a real tragedy because as a community we have so much to offer. I invite the Minister to come to Somerset to talk with us about how we can get that across to dentists. Ultimately, we need fundamental changes to the NHS contract, how we fund it and how we recruit. Of the local dentists I surveyed, 100% said that they were not satisfied with the Government’s progress on improving the NHS dental contract, while 82% of the public I surveyed rated the Government’s performance on NHS dentistry as poor or very poor. Two years into this Government, we are still waiting for proper changes to the NHS dental contract; if we factor in early discussions, consultations and then actually drafting and proposing the thing—we all know how long those things take—I am sure the Minister is aware that if this is kicked down the road any further, the Government will not be able to deliver on their promise to roll out a new NHS dental system by the next election. I urge the Minister to provide a clear commitment to getting the consultation on fundamental reforms done this summer, no matter how distracting a new Secretary of State, a by-election and a change of Prime Minister may be—let us get on with it. I hope the Minister will also use this debate as an opportunity to go further and provide a clear timetable for when formal negotiations will start, as well as a firm deadline for rolling out the new system in this Parliament. I know that the Minister is committed to getting this right, and that he is working with a difficult brief, but there seems to be a disappointing trend emerging with this Government, whether in social care, defence, investment or dentistry: if it is hard, kick it down the road. We were promised change, so please work with us to deliver that. I do not want to have to be back here in a year or two, reporting that things have got even worse in Yeovil.

• 15 Jun 2026 · NHS Dentistry · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for all his replies to my questions. Can he give me a timescale for when the contract will change? He also mentioned to the hon. Member for Bridgwater (Sir Ashley Fox) that Somerset is an outlier, so will he take me up on an offer to visit Somerset?

• 15 Jun 2026 · NHS Dentistry · Hansard source

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  I will move on, but if the Minister could remember to address that question later, it would be most helpful. On urgent care, we Liberal Democrats would go further by introducing a £750 million dental rescue plan and flexible commissioning, which would guarantee an NHS dentist for everyone needing urgent and emergency care. I welcome the Government’s work on prevention, and particularly the support for supervised toothbrushing. I have raised this with the Minister before, but schools in my area rightly pointed out that when all the tasks that teaching staff have to do are factored in, sometimes getting the toothbrushing scheme in place is not possible. Schools in my area have had their own ways of promoting good oral health, but I also understand the drive to support and manage this nationally, so will the Minister meet me to hear from schools in my area, and talk about what we can do to support them without adding more burdens?