Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of industry rebate payments under the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) on improving patients' access to innovative medicines; and what estimate he has made of the additional number of innovative medicines prescribed as a result of those payments.

In England, Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) payments are taken into account in the allocations to NHS England through the Mandate. All the payments will go back into spending on improving patients’ health and care.

The NHS England budget for 2015-16 already takes account for money anticipated from higher than expected PPRS payments. The Mandate for 2015-16 has a set firm NHS England budget for 2015-16, which is £3billion (3%) higher than its budget for 2014-15. This increase takes into account a number of things, including additional funding for the National Health Service announced in the Autumn Statement and the fact that the PPRS payment in 2015-16 is now forecast to be higher than originally expected.

It will be up to NHS England how they split that overall budget between clinical commissioning groups, specialised commissioning etc. Following normal Government accounting rules there is no separately identified ring-fenced funding stream associated with the PPRS payment.

The PPRS helps all member companies to compete globally by providing stability in United Kingdom prices. It includes a number of initiatives to help speed uptake of medicines approved by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the NHS. Sales of new active substances launched on or after 1 January 2014 are exempt from payments though still included in the overall limit on growth and the payments made by industry as a whole. This recognises and rewards innovation.

Net sales growth from the first nine months of 2014 compared to 2013 was 5.9 per cent. This was higher than the agreed forecast growth of 3.87 per cent. and shows that patients are benefitting from greater access to branded medicines. Most companies have enjoyed growth in sales in 2014, with over 40 per cent. of companies having double-digit growth rates.