This week in Parliament w/c 2nd December

Welcome back to the APPG on Pharmacy weekly Parliamentary update. Set out below is a summary of key parliamentary and policy developments in community pharmacy from the week just gone.

Key Parliamentary Activity

Oral Contributions

National Insurance Contributions Bill – 3rd December 2024. Full transcript available here.

  • Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat) on the damage of employer national insurance hike harming essential services and small businesses, like pharmacies, while sparing big corporations.

  • Joe Robertson (Conservative) on the Budget's national insurance hike and lack of healthcare funding threatening essential services like GPs, pharmacies, hospices, and dentists, undermining the NHS and public services.

Topical Question – 3rd December 2024. Full transcript available here.

Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat): “Pharmacies provide frontline care, and without support, their viability and the accessible healthcare that they offer could be at risk. That will add pressure to an already strained national health service. Will the Chancellor reconsider and exempt community pharmacies from the increase? “

Primary care providers have yearly negotiations with the Department on what services they provide and what money they are entitled to. More broadly, the reason why we are, in the Budget, taking difficult decisions about national insurance and other matters is precisely to fund the NHS, so that we have the health service that our country needs and deserves.

Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat)  

Written Questions:

There were 15 written questions relating to Pharmacy answered in the House of Commons and House of Lords this week. These can be viewed on Hansard here.