Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what impact assessment his Department has undertaken on the potential effect of the Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Bill 2016 on small and medium enterprises.

The Government has published the Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Bill. This can be accessed on the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-service-medical-supplies-costs

The Government fully recognises the need to balance the interests of the National Health Service and patients in having medicines available on reasonable terms with the need to minimise burdens on small and medium sized companies. In relation to the proposed changes to the statutory scheme for branded medicines the Government has proposed an exemption from any new payment mechanism for companies with sales of branded health service medicines below £5 million in the previous calendar year.

The Bill includes new information powers which would be exercised through regulations. Companies are already required to keep information on sales and income for six years for tax purposes and the Government will consult industry to consider whether the information regulations would create any additional burden on companies beyond this.

Subject to the passage of the Bill through Parliament, the Government intends to undertake a public consultation on the regulations which will include a full impact assessment.