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Select committee: Public Services Committee

Letter from Department of Health and Social Care to the Public Services Committee - Government Response - Medicines Security Report (1 April 2026)

Published 15 April 2026

Public Services Committee Medicines security Report on parliament.uk ↗

At a glance

The government's response

This document responds to 4th Report - Medicines security—a national priority.

This is the government's response, published 15 April 2026.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government agrees with the committee on the importance of patient impact, domestic manufacturing and international co-operation, but disagrees on adding medicine supply failure to the National Risk Register and on MHRA licensing speed.

  • On the National Risk Register, it considers that the Register and broader activities "provide a critical input" and states: "We do not believe that explicitly including risk to medicine supplies is required."
  • On supply chain data, it says current legislation "does not support mandated data sharing when a supply issue does not exist", and that a consultation on amending the 2018 Regulations proposes enhancing the scope of enquiries and strengthening the compliance regime.
  • On MHRA licensing, it says: "We do not, however, agree with the report's statement that MHRA is slower than comparable regulators in other countries."
  • It states it will respond "in due course" to the pharmacist flexibilities consultation, will consult "in due course" on medicine pack barcodes, and will update on progress against its summer 2025 commitments "later this year".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

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