General Pharmaceutical Council
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) will not increase registration renewal fees for next financial year, despite forecasting a budget deficit of £2.6m.
The GPhC’s governing council agreed at its meeting on 8 March 2018 that it would hold renewal fees at £250 for pharmacists, £118 for pharmacy technicians, and £241 for registered pharmacies in 2018/2019.
The organisation’s budget for next financial year includes a proposed deficit of £2.6m to be funded from its existing reserves.
Papers prepared for the GPhC council meeting
also state that budget projections for the following two years “do not incorporate any proposed fee increases at this stage”. However, the fee level will be reviewed annually.
The GPhC papers explained its current financial pressures, saying:
“As the demands placed on the pharmacy sector grow, in turn the demands placed on us grow too. We are amidst a transformation process to improve the way we work across all our functions.
“Although the transformation work started last year, it has gathered momentum during the current financial year and it requires investment if we are to deliver improved services to the public and for our registrants.”
Council papers also say that more work is needed to set out a revised longer term financial strategy for the GPhC.
“We need to carry out further work to revise our longer term financial strategy with Council and a plan to restore balance between our fee income, expenditure, target reserve levels and the expectations upon us,” they say.
