The GPhC propose a fee increase of £103 (from £262 to £365) for the renewal and registration of pharmacy premises.
There are approximately 14,300 registered premises and the increase would yield approximately £1.5 million in extra income for the GPhC.
In addition, the GPhC consultation sought views on the following:
- setting fees for all registrant groups over a longer period; for example, by linking to inflation over a three-year period or setting fees to increase each year by a certain, fixed percentage over a three-year period
- whether we could have more flexible fee options, including considering the cases for and against different fees for some registrants – for example, those on parental leave
- different fees for premises based on their type, turnover or other size measures
- the possibility of charging for additional regulatory activities – for example, reinspection.
PDA recommendations included:
- The PDA supports the principle of a fee increase so that pharmacy premises bear the true cost of their regulation but we recommend that the GPhC, in line with the Nolan Principle of Openness, presents a full and comprehensive set of financial workings on how it has arrived at the figure of £365.
- The GPhC should not raise fees until it can detail and demonstrate independently verifiable efficiency gains on an annual basis before coming back to registrants for any increase in fees.
- The GPhC must not expect year on year increases in its income as a matter of right and we cannot support a guarantee of a 3 year fixed increase in fee income for the GPhC.
- The GPhC must provide full working models on fees showing cost allocations according to registrant type.
- The GPhC must provide data if it is to introduce variable fees, to show how the variances would impact different groups of registrants (pharmacists/technicians/premises).
- Fees for accreditation MPharm courses must properly be charged to institutions and not allocated as a cost when determining pharmacist registration fees.
- The GPhC must publish the equality impact analysis that exists from the recent 2019 fees increase and also the fees increase from prior years.
- The GPhC must publish its equality impact assessment of how its proposals would impact on registrants with various protected characteristics as part of this and any future consultation document.
Download the PDA’s full response here
