Negotiations for the community pharmacy contract in England will not begin until next year, pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock has confirmed.

Contractors in England are currently working under the terms of a contractual framework agreed in 2019, that expired in March this year.

A new contract was due to begin in April but was delayed as negotiations 'did not get over the line before the general election', Mr Kinnock said.

Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate yesterday (17 December) the Labour MP for Aberafan Maesteg said he was 'frustrated as everybody else about the delay' to the contractual framework.

Mr Kinnock added: 'The reason for the delay is that the negotiations did not get over the line before the general election.

'The general election came, and we have spent a lot of time now clearing up the disastrous mess that the previous government made of the system.

'I can say that we are now very focused on getting these negotiations started early in the new year.

'I know that hon. Members across the House will be very interested in that, in terms of the contractual framework, the medicines margin and all of the funding.

'We have a statutory duty to consult with the sector before we can make any announcement, but we are confident that we will start the negotiations early in the new year.'

Pharmacy contractors represented by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) recently voted overwhelmingly in favour of limiting their services unless funding is improved.

And the NPA told The Pharmacist that subject to agreement from its board, it would likely recommend its members to take action from January unless the government offers the sector a suitable and sustainable funding deal before then.