Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the September 2020 report by EY on independent pharmacies, what assessment he has made of the implications for the primary care network of the rate of closure of independent community pharmacies staying at the rate indicated in that report over the next four years.

We are carefully considering the findings of the report on independent pharmacy in England and any implications for National Health Service arrangements under the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework. As part of the 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review, funding for community pharmacy is being discussed, including with the Chief Executive Officer of the NHS in England.