Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the payments made by the pharmaceutical industry under the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme will be apportioned to each of the devolved health administrations, whilst securing that the mechanism in place for determining apportionment ensures that patients in all four constituent parts of the UK receive benefits from the payments made throughout the duration of the scheme.

The Government recognises that the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) payments that companies make under the 2014 scheme in respect of the United Kingdom need to be allocated to each of the devolved administrations in a fair way. Under the new arrangements introduced as part of the 2014 scheme, the apportionments will be agreed with the devolved administrations each year. The method for apportioning 2014-15 payments has not yet been finalised.

It is a matter for the devolved health administrations to decide how to use the apportioned payments they receive from the PPRS.