Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason business rates treatment is different for community pharmacies and (a) GP and (b) NHS dentist surgeries; and whether his Department plans to extend business rate reimbursements to community pharmacies.

Community pharmacy, general practice and National Health Service dental surgeries all play a vital role in delivering our Neighbourhood Health Service offer for communities across the country. They are treated differently in relation to business rates because GP practices and most NHS dental services have their premises costs reimbursed under NHS contracts, whereas community pharmacies are treated as retail businesses and do not have a comparable, automatic reimbursement mechanism for business rates.

That difference in this treatment is rooted in how each service is commissioned, contracted, and classified. Community pharmacy have been afforded support through the business rates relief for retail, hospitality or leisure which is not provided for general practice or dental surgeries. From 2026, this relief is being replaced by two lower business rates multipliers for properties with a rateable value below £500,000.