Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to reduce the time taken to grant licences to pharmacies applying to open new premises.

Pharmacies that want to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical service must submit an application to the integrated care board (ICB). ICBs determine applications having regard to Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments (PNAs), undertaken by local authorities. Applications can also be made to provide benefits that were not foreseen in the PNA. If the applicant or another contractor wishes to appeal the decision of the ICB, then they can appeal the decision. Appeals are dealt with by NHS Resolution on behalf of my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Together with Community Pharmacy England, the representative body of all pharmacy contractors in England, we keep the market entry system and underpinning processes under review, and streamline and expedite the processes where possible. For example, in May 2023, we removed the requirement for an applicant to provide fitness information if they already operate another pharmacy in the area, and the ICB already holds their up-to-date fitness information, and shortened the work history that needs to be provided to the last seven years. Applicants can also speed up the process by ensuring they provide all the right information with their application in a timely manner.