The GPhC’s governing council has agreed to increase registration renewal fees for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy premises from 15 October 2015. This follows an extended period where fees for individual registrants were either reduced or remained the same.
The annual renewal fee for pharmacists will rise by £10 from £240 to £250. The annual renewal fee for pharmacy technicians will also increase by £10 from £108 to £118 and the annual renewal for pharmacy premises will increase by £20, from £221 to £241.
The council in reaching a decision on the fee rules carefully considered the results of the consultation which heard from over 1,000 respondents.
The key results of the consultation include:
- 42.1% of those who responded to the consultation agreed or strongly agreed with the GPhC’s approach to setting fees, which seeks to attribute the cost of regulation to different registrant groups as fairly as possible
- 59.7% disagreed or strongly disagreed with increasing the renewal fee for pharmacists by £10, from £240 to £250.
- 65.1% disagreed or strongly disagreed with increasing the renewal fee for pharmacy technicians by £10, from £108 to £118.
- Responses were relatively balanced between agreement and disagreement on the proposed increase in the renewal fee for pharmacy premises by £20, from £221 to £241, with slightly more respondents (34.6%) remaining neutral.
A number of respondents to the consultation raised concerns in relation to the £15 administration fee for direct debits. In response, council has approved removing the £15 fee for quarterly direct debits which means people can now spread the cost of paying their fees over the year without incurring an extra fee.
Duncan Rudkin, Chief Executive of the GPhC, said:
“The council carefully considered the concerns of respondents and the overall economic context but decided it was necessary to increase fees to meet the growing costs of regulation caused by a number of factors, including a rising number of complaints. Even after the increase, fees for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in 2016 will still be lower than those charged in 2011.
“We are strongly committed to driving down our operating costs and achieving further operational efficiencies, as well as avoiding significant fluctuations in fee levels in future years to any or all registrants.”