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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 2nd DECEMBER 2013
Question
Will the Minister release the written review of the Jersey Dental Fitness Scheme which he referred to on 20th November 2013 during the debate of P.127/2013 (Dental Health Services – improvements') and which he stated had been produced by his Department in July this year and, if not, why not?
Answer
Earlier in the year my department reviewed the Jersey Dental Scheme, looking specifically at the level of the States subsidy. A report was produced which described the history of the scheme, the numbers of people participating, the level of parental contributions, States contributions and the costs experienced by participating dentists. Options to maintain the current level of State subsidy or increase the subsidy (by larger and smaller amounts) were produced and the costs of these various options to the Social Security budget were estimated within this report.
These projected increases were then subjected to challenge as part of normal departmental processes and further work was undertaken to explore whether any increased spend caused by increasing the States subsidy would sufficiently target assistance to the families most in need of support. This work is still ongoing.
I will not release the written review of the Jersey Dental Scheme; this is an internal document which took a narrow focus (the subsidy to the JDS) and was constructed purely to assist with the development of policy.
Following the debate of P.127, members are already aware that the focus is no longer exclusively on the level of States subsidy. More fundamental questions need our attention, these centre on the usefulness of a membership' scheme such as the JDS and ways in which we can engage with people (children and pensioners) who do not access the schemes Social Security has historically offered.