Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she has taken to ensure that new housing developments do not overwhelm local pharmacies in growing market towns.

Local authority Health and Wellbeing Boards are required to assess both current and future need for pharmaceutical services through their Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments (PNAs). This includes considering the effects of planned housing developments and population growth. PNAs must identify where future pharmaceutical services may be required and are kept under review, with new assessments required where significant changes in local need arise. Integrated care boards must have regard to these assessments when considering applications for new pharmacy premises. The Shropshire PNA 2025 to 2028 was published in September 2025, and the new assessment is due to be published in 2028.