Pharmacy All-Party Parliamentary Group

This article is part of the Pharma_Portal project of Spinwatch.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pharmacy aims to 'raise awareness of the profession of pharmacy and to promote pharmacists’ current and potential contribution to the health of the nation.'

In 2006 it was criticised by the Times for not adequately disclosing support from lobbying or PR firms, which 'list only the name of a lobbyist or public affairs consultant, and do not specify an ultimate client. This would appear to be a clear breach of parliamentary 1985 rules that state: “Where a public relations agency provides the assistance, the ultimate client should be named”.

The September 2010 UK House of Commons register of All-Party Groups discloses that Luther Pendragon act as the group’s secretariat on behalf of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, the National Pharmacy Association, the Company Chemists’ Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.

As of July 2015 Luther Pendragon was still named as the group's secretariat.

Work and activities

The group looks at issues of current interest and significance for pharmacy, patients and the NHS. It holds meetings and investigations and invites expert speakers to explain their views and help shape the debate.

APPG progress in pharmacy inquiry

The group says it is currently undertaking an inquiry into where further progress may be made in the field of pharmacy. 'The hope is to help pharmacy realise its full potential in the provision of patient care and NHS services in an evolved healthcare landscape'.

The inquiry, as decided by chairman Sir Kevin Barron MP, will be based on roundtable discussions, and is strictly non-adversarial.

It wil look into issues concerning the new commissioning environment, contractual and funding arrangements, education, skills and training on top of patient and public awareness.

People

Officers as at September 2015

• Chair: Sir Kevin Barron MP (Labour, Rother Valley)

Vice chairs:

• Baroness Julia Cumberlege - Conservative Party
• Oliver Colvile MP - Conservative Party
• Paula Sherriff MP - Labour - Treasurer

Officers as at March 2015

Chair: The Rt Hon Sir Kevin Barron MP - Labour Vice Chairs:

• Baroness Julia Cumberlege - Conservative Party
• Oliver Colvile - Conservative Party

Treasurer: Margot James - Conservative Party Secretary: Stephen Lloyd - Liberal Democrats

Members as at March 2015

Rebecca Harris - Conservative Party | Penny Mordaunt - Conservative Party | Marcus Jones - Conservative Party | Sir David Amess - Conservative Party | David Tredinnick | Conservative Party | Lord Norman Fowler - Conservative Party | Adrian Sanders - Liberal Democrats | Stephen Lloyd - Liberal Democrats | Lord Timothy Clement-Jones - Liberal Democrats | Annette Brooke - Liberal Democrats | Gisela Stuart - Labour | Fiona Mactaggart - Labour | Frank Dobson - Labour | Grahame Morris - Labour | Lindsa Roy - Labour | Russell Brown - Labour | Mary Glindon - Labour | Ian Austin - Labour | Jim Dowd - Labour | Ian Lucas - Labour

2008

• Dr Howard Stoate MP (Labour, Dartford)
• Baroness Julia Cumberlege (Conservative)
• Sandra Gidley MP (Lib Dem, Romsey)
• Mark Todd MP (Labour, Derbyshire South)

The chair for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pharmacy is Howard Stoate. He was a speaker (in his role with the APPG on Pharmacy) at UniChem's annual Conference in Brazil, with transport and accomodation provided by UniChem.

Secretariat and benefits

Registered in July 2015 (in bands of £1,500) Luther Pendragon received £25,501-27,000 in benefits to acts as the group's secretariat.

Luther Pendragon is funded by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the Company Chemists Association, the National Pharmacy Association and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee to provide secretariat services and website management to the PAPPG.