This request concerns the future need identified in relation to Sherford town centre. It follows your response to information request Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment monitoring, Sherford, answered on 30 July 2026.
1. Recorded material on the meaning of the wording
Please provide any recorded information held that shows what the phrase “in the life of this PNA” was intended to qualify in the Sherford passages quoted above, and in particular whether it was intended to:
a. form part of the specified future circumstances themselves, such that the future need arises only if 2,500 houses are built and occupied before the assessment expires: or
b. describe the Board’s expectation as to when the parameter would be reached, without limiting the circumstances in which the identified future need arises.
Recorded information for this purpose includes drafting notes, working papers, comments on drafts, minutes, reports to the Board or to any steering group, and correspondence.
Devon County Council does not hold the requested information.
2. Drafting history
Please provide any recorded information showing changes made to the Sherford passages between the draft assessment issued for consultation and the assessment approved on 26 September 2025, together with any recorded reason for those changes.
Devon County Council does not hold any recorded information regarding these changes. By way of assistance we can advise that the recorded changes to the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) prior to consultation and post consultation are as follows
– Pre-Consultation South Hams – Based on the information available at the time of developing this PNA and with the continued expansion of Sherford, it is not anticipated that a gap in pharmacy provision will be identified until 2,500 houses are built and occupied, in this development, in the life of this PNA. As the new town evolves and develops, should this parameter be met, there will be a geographical gap, a gap in necessary services and a gap in opening times for 40 core hours per week.
– Post-Consultation – South Hams – Based on the information available at the time of developing this PNA and with the continued expansion of Sherford, it is not anticipated that a gap in pharmacy provision will be identified until 2,500 houses are built and occupied, in this development, in the life of this PNA. As the new town evolves and develops, should this parameter be met, there will be a future need for a pharmacy within the Sherford town centre. Provision of services would be required Monday to Friday between 9:00am and 6:00pm Monday to Friday and Saturdays 9:00am to 1:00pm, providing all essential services plus the necessary services as outlined in the PNA 2025-28. Core hours must include provision up to 6:00pm on weekdays to ensure adequate access for the local population.
3. The Torridge comparison
The future need identified for Torridge appears on the same page and contains no equivalent temporal qualifier: “if the 100-hour pharmacy at Atlantic Village, Clovelly Road, Bideford is withdrawn from the pharmaceutical list, there will be a future need”.
a. Please provide any recorded information explaining why a temporal qualifier was included in the Sherford passages but not in the Torridge passage.
Devon County Council does not hold the requested information.
4. Consultation responses.
a. Please provide any consultation response received on the draft assessment which commented on the Sherford future need or on the 2,500-dwelling parameter, together with any recorded response by the Board or its officers.
Devon County Council does not hold this information. This is because there were no comments in the consultation regarding Sherford.
5. Position if the parameter is met after the assessment expires
a. Please provide any recorded information held on the Board’s position as to what happens if 2,500 houses at Sherford are built and occupied after the current assessment expires but before the next assessment is published, and in particular whether the Board considers the identified future need would continue to apply.
Devon County Council does not hold the requested information.
6. Monitoring and supplementary statements
a. Please confirm whether the Board monitors the number of dwellings occupied at Sherford for the purposes of this identified future need, and if so at what interval and by whom.
We can advise that the Board monitors housing development numbers for PNA purposes. This is collected on an annual basis and will be reported to the Health and Wellbeing Board. The reporting date will depend upon when the data is available to Devon County Council.
b. Please also confirm whether any supplementary statement relating to Sherford has been issued since publication of the assessment or is currently planned or under consideration.
We can advise that there have been no supplementary statements issued relating to Sherford that sit within the Devon boundary area as detailed in the PNA Monitoring Dashboard, available on this webpage https://www.devon.gov.uk/public-health/resources-insights-data/pna/
7. Next assessment
a. Please provide any recorded information held on the expected timetable for the next Devon
Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment, including the expected consultation period and expiry date of the current assessment.
Devon County Council does not hold the requested information.