Health secretary Andrew Lansley has given a double pledge of support for pharmacy, as he addressed concerns over pharmacy services and prescription pricing in Parliament.Asked whether pharmacists could be neglected in the health bill’s commissioning plans, Mr Lansley told Parliament he endorsed “the stronger role that pharmacies can play”.“I and my collegues entirely understand and endorse the stronger role that pharmacies can play, including by assisting with the provision of services such as minor ailments services and medicines use reviews (MURs), which will be commissioned through arrangements led by the NHS commissioning board,” Mr Lansley said.Mr Lansley emphasised that local authorities would consider enhanced pharmacy services such as smoking cessation in local health improvement plans.Mr Lansley also assured pharmacies that there would be “fair, but not excessive, margins on dispensing” in the upcoming changes to medicine pricing.The government plans to switch to a value based pricing system for new medicines from 2014.