22 May 2015

Outcomes of the consultation on HCPC registration fees

Outcomes of the consultation on the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration fees

 At its meeting of 14 May 2015, the HCPC Council agreed to proposals to increase the registration renewal fee from £80 to £90 per year. The Council also agreed to increases to other registration fees.

The Council’s decision to increase the fees was carefully considered and followed an in-depth analysis of the responses to the consultation which closed on 6 May 2015. The Council agreed the need to safeguard HCPC’s medium to long term financial sustainability, ensuring that it is able to remain an effective regulator and meet the expectations of registrants and the public.

Marc Seale, HCPC Chief Executive and Registrar, said:

“We are very sensitive to the concerns of respondents and of the economic context in which we operate. As a self-financing regulator we do not receive any ongoing funding from other sources. Whilst we have, reluctantly, decided to increase the renewal fee as proposed, we continue to remain the lowest fee of all independent UK health and care regulators.

“One of the main cost drivers which has heavily influenced the decision to increase our fee is PSA costs. The PSA fee that we will be charged has yet to be formally set and there is considerable uncertainty as to its level in future years. We are mindful that it will take a full two years before we are able to realise the benefit of any increase to the fees.

“The remainder of the increase - as outlined in the consultation document - is necessary in order to ensure that we continue to be able to perform as an effective regulator. The additional income will allow us to make essential improvements to the way in which we run fitness to practise hearings and to our IT systems. This is important in helping us to maintain and improve efficiencies, and contain any future increases in the fees over the longer term.”

Subject to parliamentary approval, the new registration fee structure will come into effect on 1 August 2015.

A full summary of the responses to the consultation is available here. This contains an analysis of the responses we received, as well as our comments and decisions.

We also have answers to a series of ‘frequently asked questions’ about the revised registration fees.