The Government recently announced a £340 million uplift to community pharmacy funding, a 10% increase, recognising the essential role pharmacies play in supporting patients and the wider National Health Service. As part of this, we are funding the rollout of Independent Prescribing from Autumn 2026, building on the success of Pharmacy First and the Pharmacy Contraception Service to help pharmacists use their clinical skills and provide more on-the-spot care for common conditions.

To support this, NHS England is providing fully funded national training opportunities including independent prescriber training, clinical examination skills, and training the next generation of education supervisors. From September 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers upon registration.

NHS England service specifications and associated service directions underpin any new pharmaceutical service, providing the governance framework and standards to ensure the delivery of quality pharmacy services to patients and the public. NHS England will continue to keep the clinical scope of pharmacy services under review and ensure service specifications are updated to ensure best practice is followed in the pharmacy setting.

In 2021, the General Pharmaceutical Council introduced reforms to pharmacist initial education and training standards to integrate clinical prescribing skills, so pharmacist can play a much greater role in providing clinical services. The legislation governing medicines and pharmacy regulation is kept under review to ensure this supports modern pharmacy practice.

The Government is committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacies, and from September 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers upon registration.

To support community pharmacy employers in developing their staff and delivering quality National Health Services, NHS England provides a number of funded national training opportunities for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. This includes independent prescriber training, clinical examination skills, and training the next generation of education supervisors.

Data on GP practices, including closure dates, is published as part of the ‘GP and GP practice related data’ set, available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/services/organisation-data-service/data-search-and-export/csv-downloads/gp-and-gp-practice-related-data

Data on GP workforce can be found here:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/general-and-personal-medical-services/31-december-2025#

We are increasing the capacity in general practices by investing £160 million via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) to recruit more general practitioners (GPs) to ensure the delivery of more GP appointments. Since October 2024, 3,073 individual GPs have been recruited into work, preventing them from graduating into unemployment. Further flexibilities were made to the ARRS to enable primary care networks to recruit recently qualified GPs, including removing caps on the number of GPs that can be recruited through the scheme to increase the number of both part-time and full-time GPs in employment.

As a result, 6.8 million additional appointments were delivered in the year to December 2025, compared with the previous 12 months, and there is now the largest number of fully qualified GPs since 2015

We have invested an additional £1.1 billion in GPs to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest cash increase in over a decade and will facilitate the recruitment of GPs. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is greater than the 5.8% growth to the National Health Service budget as a whole.

The Government is also committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. The plan will also ensure that staff are better treated, have better training, more fulfilling roles, and hope for the future.

Importantly, after a decade of declining satisfaction, patient experiences with access to their GP has improved significantly. As of December 2025, 75.2% of patients report that they find it is easy to contact their GP, a 14.3 percentage point increase since July 2024.

We are investing an extra £1.1 billion in general practices (GPs) in 2025/26, the biggest cash increase in a decade. We now have the highest number of fully qualified GPs serving in more than a decade. By boosting the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme with £160 million pounds, we have prevented over 3,000 GPs graduating into unemployment.

GPs are valued independent contractors who provide over £13 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with the sector both about what services they provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking into account the cost of delivering services, including staffing costs.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

I am grateful to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pharmacy for its report. I agree that pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system and recognise the challenges the sector faces. The Department will consider the recommendations set out by the report, some of which overlap with commitments already set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, such as introducing an independent prescribing service in community pharmacy.

For 2025/26, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework was increased to £3.1 billion. This represented the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service at the time, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. As is custom and practice, the Department will consult Community Pharmacy England on any proposed or future changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors.

I am grateful to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pharmacy for its report. I agree that pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system and recognise the challenges the sector faces. The Department will consider the recommendations set out by the report, some of which overlap with commitments already set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, such as introducing an independent prescribing service in community pharmacy.

For 2025/26, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework was increased to £3.1 billion. This represented the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service at the time, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. As is custom and practice, the Department will consult Community Pharmacy England on any proposed or future changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors.

The Department has not had any recent discussions with local authorities about the funding of hospice services.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services available within the ICB catchment.

Local authorities don't have direct responsibility for end of life care. However, statutory guidance encourages local authorities to prioritise integration activity in areas where there is evidence that effective integration of services materially improves people’s wellbeing, for example, end of life care.

As the majority of hospices are independent charitable organisations, neither the Government nor NHS England collect data on their financial accounts. As such, we do not hold data on the proportion of the total income that hospices receive that is provided by central Government.

In December 2024, we announced a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England. We are pleased to say that this capital funding has just been increased by a further £25 million.

The Government will consider contracting and commissioning as part of developing the forthcoming Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. By supporting ICBs to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.

The Department has not had any recent discussions with local authorities about the funding of hospice services.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services available within the ICB catchment.

Local authorities don't have direct responsibility for end of life care. However, statutory guidance encourages local authorities to prioritise integration activity in areas where there is evidence that effective integration of services materially improves people’s wellbeing, for example, end of life care.

As the majority of hospices are independent charitable organisations, neither the Government nor NHS England collect data on their financial accounts. As such, we do not hold data on the proportion of the total income that hospices receive that is provided by central Government.

In December 2024, we announced a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England. We are pleased to say that this capital funding has just been increased by a further £25 million.

The Government will consider contracting and commissioning as part of developing the forthcoming Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. By supporting ICBs to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.

There is no separate assessment of general practice (GP) premises as part of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) assessments of practices. The CQC’s Premises Regulations, primarily Regulation 15, mandate that care locations must be clean, suitable, secure, and properly maintained, ensuring safety for users. As of 15 January 2026, in England there are 5,520 GP surgeries rated as Good, 256 rated as Requires Improvement, and 20 rated as Inadequate. five locations have yet to be rated.

The Government recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects, such as new facilities, significant upgrades, or other targeted capital investments.

In May, we announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund to deliver upgrades to more than a thousand GP surgeries across England this financial year. These schemes will create additional clinical space within existing building footprints to enable practices to see more patients, boost productivity, and improve patient care.

NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to integrated care boards (ICBs). This process is independent of the Government, and NHS England takes advice on the underlying formula from the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA). The most recent allocations take into account an ACRA-recommended change specifically focused on rurality.

ICBs are responsible for commissioning, which includes planning, securing, and monitoring, GP services within their health systems through delegated responsibility from NHS England. The NHS has a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient medical services, including general practices, in each local area. It should take account of population growth and demographic changes.

There is no separate assessment of general practice (GP) premises as part of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) assessments of practices. The CQC’s Premises Regulations, primarily Regulation 15, mandate that care locations must be clean, suitable, secure, and properly maintained, ensuring safety for users. As of 15 January 2026, in England there are 5,520 GP surgeries rated as Good, 256 rated as Requires Improvement, and 20 rated as Inadequate. five locations have yet to be rated.

The Government recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects, such as new facilities, significant upgrades, or other targeted capital investments.

In May, we announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund to deliver upgrades to more than a thousand GP surgeries across England this financial year. These schemes will create additional clinical space within existing building footprints to enable practices to see more patients, boost productivity, and improve patient care.

NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to integrated care boards (ICBs). This process is independent of the Government, and NHS England takes advice on the underlying formula from the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA). The most recent allocations take into account an ACRA-recommended change specifically focused on rurality.

ICBs are responsible for commissioning, which includes planning, securing, and monitoring, GP services within their health systems through delegated responsibility from NHS England. The NHS has a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient medical services, including general practices, in each local area. It should take account of population growth and demographic changes.

There is no separate assessment of general practice (GP) premises as part of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) assessments of practices. The CQC’s Premises Regulations, primarily Regulation 15, mandate that care locations must be clean, suitable, secure, and properly maintained, ensuring safety for users. As of 15 January 2026, in England there are 5,520 GP surgeries rated as Good, 256 rated as Requires Improvement, and 20 rated as Inadequate. five locations have yet to be rated.

The Government recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects, such as new facilities, significant upgrades, or other targeted capital investments.

In May, we announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund to deliver upgrades to more than a thousand GP surgeries across England this financial year. These schemes will create additional clinical space within existing building footprints to enable practices to see more patients, boost productivity, and improve patient care.

NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to integrated care boards (ICBs). This process is independent of the Government, and NHS England takes advice on the underlying formula from the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA). The most recent allocations take into account an ACRA-recommended change specifically focused on rurality.

ICBs are responsible for commissioning, which includes planning, securing, and monitoring, GP services within their health systems through delegated responsibility from NHS England. The NHS has a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient medical services, including general practices, in each local area. It should take account of population growth and demographic changes.

There is no separate assessment of general practice (GP) premises as part of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) assessments of practices. The CQC’s Premises Regulations, primarily Regulation 15, mandate that care locations must be clean, suitable, secure, and properly maintained, ensuring safety for users. As of 15 January 2026, in England there are 5,520 GP surgeries rated as Good, 256 rated as Requires Improvement, and 20 rated as Inadequate. five locations have yet to be rated.

The Government recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects, such as new facilities, significant upgrades, or other targeted capital investments.

In May, we announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund to deliver upgrades to more than a thousand GP surgeries across England this financial year. These schemes will create additional clinical space within existing building footprints to enable practices to see more patients, boost productivity, and improve patient care.

NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to integrated care boards (ICBs). This process is independent of the Government, and NHS England takes advice on the underlying formula from the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA). The most recent allocations take into account an ACRA-recommended change specifically focused on rurality.

ICBs are responsible for commissioning, which includes planning, securing, and monitoring, GP services within their health systems through delegated responsibility from NHS England. The NHS has a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient medical services, including general practices, in each local area. It should take account of population growth and demographic changes.

Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing National Health Services. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between integrated care board (ICB) areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative care and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.

In addition to the statutory funding provided by ICBs, the Government has been supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We recently also confirmed the continuation of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices for the next three financial years. This amounts to approximately £80 million over that period.

For the long-term, we are developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. We will consider contracting and commissioning arrangements as part of our MSF. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. By supporting ICBs to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087 I gave to the House.

As set out in NHS England’s Planning Guidance, integrated care boards (ICBs) are expected to work with local system colleagues to ensure that there is high quality and accessible community infrastructure in place for people with a learning disability and autistic people. They should also ensure that admissions to a mental health hospital are for assessment and treatment that can only be delivered in an inpatient setting.

ICBs are planning to spend £3.35 billion on Learning Disability and Autism services in 2025/26. Previous transformation funding for learning disability and autism has been transferred to core ICB funding. This is in line with the objective of giving systems greater financial flexibility to manage constrained budgets, which includes transferring a higher proportion of funding than ever before directly to local systems and minimising ringfencing, allowing local leaders maximum flexibility to plan better and more efficient services.

The latest National Health Service planning guidance, from 30 January 2025, includes a focus on improving mental health and learning disability care and contains the objective to deliver a minimum 10% reduction in the use of mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people in 2025/26.

For 2025/26, there is continued funding within integrated care board (ICB) baselines for support for people with a learning disability and autistic people. ICBs should prioritise continuing to invest in reducing reliance on inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people, in line with the 2025/26 NHS operating planning guidance.

The Mental Health Bill has reached Committee stage in the House of Commons, following its recent passage through the House of Lords. Through the bill, we propose taking forward a package of measures to improve care and keep people out of hospitals. Subject to parliamentary agreement, statutory Dynamic Support Registers, Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews, and new duties on commissioners will help to ensure appropriate community support in the future.

National Health Service planning guidance, published on 30 January 2025, includes a focus on improving mental health and learning disability care and contains the objective to deliver a minimum 10% reduction in the use of mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people in 2025/26. Investment has been provided each year to enable local areas to develop community intensive support teams, community forensic teams, and 24/7 crisis response for people with a learning disability and autistic people. For the 2025/2026 financial year, there is continued funding within integrated care board (ICB) baselines for people with a learning disability and autistic people. ICBs should prioritise continuing to invest in reducing reliance on inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people, in line with the 2025/26 NHS operating planning guidance.

The Mental Health Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 24 April 2025, following its recent passage through the House of Lords. Through the bill, we propose taking forward a package of measures to improve care and to keep people out of hospitals. Subject to Parliamentary agreement, measures around Dynamic Support Registers and Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews, and new duties on commissioners will help to ensure that there is an appropriate level of community support in future.

This Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting and community pharmacies will have a big role to play in that shift.

As part of the work to develop a 10 Year Health Plan, we have been carefully considering policies, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, including from the community pharmacy sector.

Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system, and the Government recognises the integral role they play within our communities, as an easily accessible ‘front door’ to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that provide NHS funded services. Most pharmacies are not directly commissioned or contracted by the NHS, instead contractors apply to gain entry to the NHS pharmaceutical list, and if an application is approved, a pharmacy can open and start providing services.

Local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served by local pharmacies, and must keep these assessments under review. Integrated care boards (ICBs) give regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications from the new contractors. Contractors can also apply to open a new pharmacy to offer benefits to patients that were not foreseen by the PNA. If there is a need for a new local pharmacy to open and no contractors apply to open a pharmacy and fill the gap, ICBs can commission a new pharmacy to open outside of the market entry processes, and fund the contract from the ICBs’ budgets.

The Pharmacy Access Scheme helps protect access to pharmacies in areas where there are fewer pharmacies and higher health needs, so that no area is left without access to local, physical NHS pharmaceutical services.

In general, despite a reduction in the number of pharmacies in recent years, patient access to pharmacies remains good and continues to be better in the most deprived areas when compared with the least deprived.

We have now concluded the consultation on funding for 2024/25 and 2025/26, and have agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a commitment to rebuilding the sector.