HCPC launches fees consultation
Health and Care Professions Council
The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) has today launched a three month consultation on proposals to increase its registration fees in 2014.
In the consultation, the Council is proposing an increase in the renewal fee from £76 to £80 per year. This increase is significantly lower than the rate of inflation over the four years since the last increase in 2009.
The Council is also proposing a similar level of increases to the other fees it charges.
As an independent regulator, the HCPC is self-financing and its operating costs are funded by registrant fees entirely. We do not receive regular funding from the Government, the only occasion we have done so is to cover the costs associated with bringing a new profession onto the Register.
The proposed increase will allow the HCPC to manage the yearly increases in its costs in an incremental way and prevent substantial unexpected increases in its fees. This is consistent with feedback from stakeholders in previous consultations and represents good financial management. It also ensures we have sufficient funds to continue to function as an effective and efficient regulator, maintaining and improving our regulatory processes.
Marc Seale, Chief Executive and Registrar commented:
“We are very aware that our operating costs are funded entirely from the fees our registrants pay. We do our utmost to ensure we operate our processes as efficiently as possible. However, it is important that we set our fees at a realistic level in order to continue to provide an efficient service to our registrants and deliver our primary function of protecting the public.
“The consultation sets out where the registrants’ fees are spent and why the increases are needed. It also highlights how these increases compare to our existing fees, provides information on our financial performance and shows how the proposed increase compares with other regulators. We are and will remain the lowest fee of all independent UK health and social care regulators”
The consultation will run from 10 July until 1 October 2013. If the proposals are adopted the changes to the fees would be effective from 1 April 2014. Existing registrants would pay the new renewal fee when their profession next renews its registration.
