Pharmacy bodies express anger over exclusion from business rates relief

Pharmacy bodies have expressed their discontent over community pharmacies’ exclusion from the government’s impending business rates relief strategy.

The government announced on 27 January 2026 that pubs and live music venues will be given 15% business rates relief for 2026/2027, where they will then be frozen in real terms for two further years and increased by no more than the rate of inflation.

Responding to the government’s decision to offer this relief only to pubs and live music venues, Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association, said: “Burdens on high-street businesses like higher employers’ national insurance contributions have already forced 650 pharmacies to close in the past year alone, with many more on the brink, even as GP surgeries and dental practices benefit from clearer, more secure funding arrangements.

“Over 95% of community pharmacy activities are NHS activities, and pharmacies should be treated the same way as our GP colleagues.”

Hannbeck also described the forthcoming ‘Community pharmacy contractual framework‘ for 2026/2027 negotiations as “a critical moment for the government to act”.

“The government has a clear choice: pubs matter, but pharmacies should be treated on a par with GPs and dentists, who don’t pay business rates, as the front door of our NHS,” Hannbeck said.

“If ministers are serious about protecting patient access to medicines and care, they must urgently step up and properly fund community pharmacies.”

Henry Gregg, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association, said: “[It was] simply outrageous that the government should offer business rate relief to pubs but ignore pharmacies that play a vital health role on thousands of our high streets.

“It’s an insult to hard-pressed pharmacists who are still struggling under the effects of historic NHS underfunding that simply isn’t sufficient to pay inflated business rates, medicine prices and their other bills.

“Denying pharmacies the business rate support that is available to GPs and other parts of the NHS is yet another example of them being treated as second-class citizens in our health service. We should treat dedicated servants of our NHS better,” he added.

Negotiations for the next community pharmacy contract were expected to begin at the end of 2025, but they are thought not to have begun yet.