Local Authority round-up 29 May 2026
29th May, 2026
Our Local Authority round up provides brief summaries of topical information on a weekly basis, to keep you aware of the changes and updates relevant to you.
Health & Social Care
£340m pharmacy boost brings faster care to high street pharmacies
Patients across England will benefit from more services, treatments and better access to medicines from their local pharmacy under a new £340 million government-funded deal.
Under the new contractual framework, pharmacists who hold an Independent Prescribing qualification will be able to assess patients and prescribe medicines directly, building on the success of the Pharmacy First service. This will deliver instant care for common conditions and gives patients access to a wider range of medicines.
These changes will be rolled out from Autum 2026 and will reduce the number of referrals back to GPs which will in turn boost efficiency, improving both patient experience and outcomes. It is also hoped it will lessen the burden on hospitals, as patients will be able to receive treatment for common conditions from a qualified pharmacist thus avoiding the need to go to A&E.
For more information, please click here.
MSK patients to get faster care and help returning to work
Thousands of patients with painful joint and muscle conditions will receive employment support and treatment to tackle health-related economic inactivity. This is thanks to a national rollout of a government pilot scheme which is backed by more than £3 million government funding.
The £3 million funding comes as an expansion of NHS England’s Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme and it builds on a successful pilot scheme which cut 18-week waiting lists by 20% across 17 areas between December 2024 and March 2025.
The new funding will support MSK community appointment days which are one-day clinics that bring health specialists, mental health support and physical activity services together, allowing people to engage with multiple services in one visit. The funding will also support ‘super clinics’ which rapidly increase clinical capacity and provided one-to-one, in-depth clinical diagnostic and targeted treatments.
For more information, please click here.
Education
£1 billion boost to PE and school sport to end fitness postcode lottery
More young people will have access to high quality PE and school sport under the government’s new PE and Schools Sport Partnerships Network, which will bring national sporting expertise into every primary and secondary school to tackle inactivity.
The government is investing over £1 billion into school sports over the next three years, including funding for the new Partnership Network, improvements to school sport facilities and support for primary schools.
Backed by £580 million and set to roll out from Spring 2027, the network will replace the existing PE and Sport Premium and put an end to a one-size fits all model.
A further almost £200 million will go towards improving school sport facilities, including making facilities more accessible for children with SEND or additional equipment. This boost has been brought in to tackle the issue that less than half of young people get the 60 minutes of daily activity they need. It has also been found that girls, those with SEND needs and those from disadvantaged backgrounds are impacted the most, and by the time they reach the end of primary school, 1 in 5 are living with obesity.
For more information, please click here.
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