Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the community pharmacy sector's funding gap has changed since the publication of Economic analysis of NHS pharmaceutical services in England on 31 March 2025.

In 2025/26, the funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework was increased to £3.1 billion. This represented the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service at the time, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. Additional funding was also made available, for example, for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First consultations, and flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.

On 25 February, the Department began the 2026/27 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework consultation with Community Pharmacy England, to consider any proposed changes to the reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors in 2026/27.