A FREQUENT request from my constituents is for me to attend a debate in the House of Commons and speak up on a particular topic. I know it can be frustrating when I write back to say that although I can (and do) attend many debates, as a Minister I have to be mute on the floor of the House, unless it is a transport debate where I can have a role at the Despatch box.

However, the quid pro quo for Ministers staying silent on areas outside their brief is that we can raise concerns directly with other Ministers at any time and I did just that this week when I went to see Health Minister Alistair Burt about the current consultation on community pharmacies that has generated hundreds of emails and postcards in my postbag and inbox.

The document is asking for responses to the need to generate a six per cent savings in the amount the Government spends on community pharmacy over the next year – an amount identified by the NHS as part of the savings it needs to make in some areas in order to keep improving the results the service delivers, within an overall funding envelope that will continue to grow – indeed there will be more than £10billion extra spent on the NHS by 2020/21 compared to 2014/15.

Both Alistair and I – and indeed all of you who took the time to get in touch – are in no doubt of the vital role that community pharmacies play in our area – and indeed I think that many pharmacists deserve a medal for all of the work they do to keep people healthy and to treat ailments on the spot that would otherwise take people to a GP or to A&E.

But it is the case that in some parts of the country, there may be more of these state-subsidised services than are necessary to maintain good access to the service – 40 per cent of pharmacies are in clusters of three or more for example – and also that many locations have not embraced the sorts of new technologies that can reduce costs while improving customer services – moving pharmacies into supermarkets or other locations that have easier access, or providing online, click and collect or home delivery options for prescriptions, for example.

Alistair was keen to assure me that all responses to the consultation will be considered and I promise that I will do all I can to make sure the value of our local pharmacy services is recognised.