Press Release

HPC publishes fees consultation key decisions

2 April 2007

The Health Professions Council (HPC) has announced the publication of its key decisions document following the consultation about its fee structure. The consultation asked registrants and stakeholders for their views on the proposed changes to the Council’s fees. 

The HPC consulted for three months between November 2006 and February 2007 on proposals to raise the fees and a copy of the consultation document was sent to all registrants and to a large number of stakeholders. The HPC received 1,153 responses to the consultation, the majority coming from individual registrants. The Council consulted with a variety of stakeholders, including professional bodies, employers, higher education institutions and others with an interest in the HPC’s work.

The responses were extremely varied and ranged from positive “Your reasoning about this seems fair and sensible and we would be happy with any of the options suggested” to highly critical “This is nothing more than a tax on caring staff”. The document contains detailed analysis of the responses received and the HPC’s decisions made as a result of these responses.

Anna van der Gaag, HPC President said “I would like to thank everyone who responded to the consultation, the views of our registrants and stakeholders are vital in shaping our future activities. I believe we have reached a compromise based on the responses we received and the new fee structure will allow us to continue to operate at the highest standard of regulation.

“It is vital that the HPC has an appropriate and realistic level of income to enable us to operate effectively, give registrants an efficient service and to protect the public.”

The document contains 12 key decisions and includes reasoning and explanations for our decisions. The main points are:

• The renewal fee will go up to £72 per annum.
• Registrants who wish to come back onto the Register (e.g. returning to work after maternity leave) will pay a ‘readmission’ fee of £182; this includes the first year of registration. (This will only be charged one month after being off the Register to allow for late renewals).
• Applicants who complete an approved course will pay a scrutiny fee of £50 and a renewal fee of £36 per annum for the first two years of registration.
• There will be no additional fee for students who graduate from an approved course but who delay applying for registration for more than two years.
• International and grandparenting scrutiny fees will rise to £400.
• The HPC will keep cross-subsidisation across the organisation to a minimum.

The changes to the fees will be effective from 1 June 2007. Existing registrants will pay the new renewal fee when their profession next renews its registration. The proposed changes will be laid before the Privy Council with the expectation that the rules will be changed by 1 June 2007.