Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on building resilient global supply chains for branded medicines.

The resilience of the United Kingdom’s supply chains is a key priority for the Government. Strong supply chains are crucial to building a resilient UK, which can withstand and proactively tackle the challenges of today and the future.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) regularly engages the Department of Business and Trade (DBT), and other departments, as well as the wider health and care system and industry, on building resilient medical supply chains.

For example, the DHSC engaged closely with the DBT on the publication of its Critical Imports and Supply Chain Strategy in January 2024, which sets out the Government’s overarching vision for the UK’s critical imports, and outlines the actions we will take to further enhance supply resilience. The strategy includes a spotlight on medical supply chains, and as part of the strategy’s development, medical industry representatives were invited to participate in DBT-led roundtables last year.