Mr. Illsley To ask theSecretary of State for Health (1) if she will make it her policy that the grant of a licence for the establishment of a pharmacy is conditional upon the establishment of such a pharmacy within a specified time scale;
(2) what plans she has to prevent companies from holding licences for the establishment of pharmacies which they do not intend to use.
§ Mr. MaloneUnder the provisions of the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 1992, as amended, a pharmacy which is given permission to open must do so within six months of permission being granted. A family health services authority, or on appeal, the family health services appeal unit, may extend this period, up to a maximum of 24 months from the date of the original grant, if it considers there is good cause for so doing.