Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department through the Chief Executive of NHS England plans to provide (a) £300m required to cover the annual shortfall in costs undertaken by Pharmacy on behalf on the NHS and (b) indexation of future funding to support family pharmacies; and if he will make a statement.

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.