A growing and ageing population means pharmacies are needed on our high streets – but the sector warns tax bombs threaten their existence.
Labour tax policies are blamed for threatening the future of pharmacies. (Image: Getty)
Rachel Reeves’s tax bombs are driving pharmacies out of business, and patients will pay the price, the Chancellor has been warned. The Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) has sounded the alarm, stating that more than 650 pharmacies closed in England and Wales last year.
Labour’s business rates and the hike in employers’ National Insurance contributions are blamed for pushing businesses to the wall. The IPA warns pharmacies are being shuttered “at a time of rapid population growth and the added healthcare demand from an ageing society”. It claims the “situation will only deteriorate unless the Government acts immediately”.
Leyla Hannbeck, the chief executive of the IPA, said: “Community pharmacies are local, often family-run businesses that form the backbone of our high streets and neighbourhood healthcare. They are where people go for vaccinations, support for minor illnesses, prescriptions, and trusted advice from a healthcare professional they know, often with access to care seven days a week.
“If closures continue at this pace, patient access to essential services will be severely undermined. The Government must act now, otherwise the goal of the NHS 10-Year Plan to make greater use of pharmacies will be at fatal risk.”
Setting the blame at the Chancellor’s door, she said: “Rising business rates, increased National Insurance contributions, and uncertainty over the future funding settlement are leaving many pharmacy owners struggling to remain viable and increasingly fearful that they will be forced to close.”
Action is expected imminently to protect pubs in England, but the sector warns of “pharmacy deserts emerging across the country”,
Ms Hannbeck said: “[We] urgently need business rates relief for community pharmacies and a fair, sustainable funding settlement as part of upcoming discussions with the Government. Without decisive action, scores of community pharmacies may be lost for good.”
Pharmacies are increasingly on the front line of public health. (Image: Getty)
The Department of Health and Social Care claims there was only a net reduction of 30 pharmacies in 2025.
A spokesperson said: “NHS figures show hundreds of pharmacies have also opened this year, so there are around the same number of pharmacies in England today as there were last year.
“This Government has increased funding to community pharmacies by 19% to £3.1billion – the largest uplift in funding for any part of the NHS – and expanded pharmacists powers to care for patients.”
