No changes will be introduced to the Community Pharmacy England (CPE) committee membership until the current term ends in 2027, notes from the negotiator's latest meeting have confirmed.

But the two non-Company Chemists' Association (CCA) 10+ multiple observers will remain as such until March 2027.

Notes from CPE’s February committee meeting revealed discussion around potential changes to the committee’s composition and constitution.

CPE will propose changes that seek to permanently address ownership changes within the sector, as well as more clearly define non-CCA 10+ multiples, it said.

And it will consult with interested parties from across the sector on these proposed changes.

But the negotiator said that it ‘would not be practicable’ to introduce any changes to the CPE committee until the current term ends in 2027.

The two observer positions were introduced in December 2024 for an initial period of 'at least a year', after the negotiator’s governance and people subcommittee identified the need to rebalance due to a significant change in sector ownership since the last elections to the committee in 2023.

Adrian Price, chair of CPE’s governance and people subcommittee, said at the time: ‘Whilst large scale constitutional change requires careful consideration, we have looked to move quickly in addressing the need to rebalance the committee’s make-up in favour of non-CCA multiples.’

Commenting on the update this week, a spokesperson for the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) said it was unfair that the voting makeup of the committee was still not representative of ownership within the sector.

'To be representative CPE have to be proportional, but they are far from it. The CCA numbers [in the sector] have declined and yet their seats on CPE remains the same and they continue having a veto,' they said.

The spokesperson stressed that the business model of CCA member pharmacies was 'significantly different' to independents, and suggested that members of the IPA should be named as such on the committee, as NPA and CCA representatives are.

And they suggested that CPE has failed to make available minutes of meetings and of governance meetings to those it represents.

In response, a spokesperson for CPE told The Pharmacist: 'The committee previously recognised the need for change to reflect sector ownership changes and more clearly define non-CCA 10+ multiples on Community Pharmacy England.

'While changes are taken forward, in consultation with sector bodies, we have welcomed two contributing observers from the non-CCA multiple sector to the committee to ensure we remain representative of the sector. All suggestions for change from sector bodies can be fed into the consultation.

'There also remains an open place on the governance and people subcommittee for a non-CCA multiple member, or observer, of the committee to take up, should they wish to.'

And they noted that summaries of committee meetings were published on the CPE website.

Also responding to the IPA comments, a spokesperson for the CCA told The Pharmacist that the composition of the CPE committee was 'an internal matter for the CPE committee to decide upon'.

'We are confident that the committee has followed its constitutional process to come to the position it currently holds,' they added.

'The sector is best served by allowing CPE and its committee to put all its energies into current negotiations and addressing the funding crisis that every contractor faces.'