Under the latest funding settlement, the global sum will increase to £180.96m, CPS confirmed this afternoon (June 15).

The increase follows two years where the global sum has stood at £178.4m.

The latest settlement “will continue the process of developing our contractual arrangements to reflect funding alongside appropriate service provision to the Scottish population”, CPS said.

The "non-global sum" – which is dependent on factors such as margins – will remain unchanged from its current level of £1.3m, CPS confirmed.

Clawback rate rise

The generic clawback rate will rise from 0% to 1.5% to reflect the £5m accumulated in 2017-18, CPS added.

The Scottish government stressed that this rate will be “temporarily suspended or adjusted” should the “market deteriorate…to ensure sufficient cash liquidity to the pharmacy network”.

The clawback rate would then be reintroduced once market conditions recover, the government added.

CPS director of operations Matt Barclay told C+D the ability to “switch off” the clawback mechanism “will allow cash to flow to contractors should the market be impacted”.

No conflict in negotiations

Funding negotiations between CPS and the government had been “constructive” and “at no time was there conflict”, he told C+D.