Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the charter of air freight to transport medicines into the UK in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

In August 2018, the Department wrote to all pharmaceutical companies that supply prescription-only and pharmacy medicines to the United Kingdom that come from, or via, the European Union or European Economic Area asking them to ensure a minimum of six weeks additional supply in the UK, over and above existing business-as-usual buffer stocks, by 29 March 2019 in a ‘no deal’ exit scenario.

In doing so we recognised that certain medicines with short shelf lives, including medical radioisotopes, cannot be reasonably stockpiled and so we asked that suppliers ensure in advance plans to air freight these medicines from the EU in the event of a ‘no deal’ exit.

The Department recognises that, by participating in the programme, suppliers may incur additional costs by switching to air freight. The Department continues to consider how best it may support medicine suppliers taking part in the contingency programme.