Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the financial viability of community pharmacies in England.

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. This work was published on the Frontier Economics website on 28 March 2025.

The findings of this analysis were considered as part of the consultation with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) on the changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors in 2025/26. Following this most recent consultation, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework was increased to £3.1 billion for 2025/26. This represented the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS at the time, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

As is custom and practice, the Department will consult CPE on any proposed changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors in due course. Indicators of financial viability are regularly reviewed by the Department ahead of any such consultation, in addition to the representations of CPE.