Fees to rise 25pc to secure future
Simpler fee structure agreed
The Society’s Council has approved a simplified structure for
members’ retention fees, to be phased in over three years.
It reflects the introduction of a two-tier register when continuing
professional development becomes mandatory, which is expected to
be a provision of pharmacy’s Section 60 Order under the Health
Act 1999.
The August
Council meeting agreed that there will be just two levels
of fee — one for practising pharmacists and one for non-practising
pharmacists. The non-practising fee is expected to be maintained
at one third of the practising fee. To smooth the transition, the
changes to the non-practising fee will be phased in and it will
be set at 18 per cent of the practising fee in 2005, 25 per cent
in
2006 and 33 per cent in 2007.
The Council’s decision is in line with the responses from
members to the consultation on mandatory CPD. Some 8,000 pharmacists
responded
and 78 per cent agreed that the Society should restructure the
register to create practising and non-practising categories for
pharmacists.
Members acknowledged that a pharmacist could not be eligible to
practise without evidence of CPD and accepted that pharmacists
in such circumstances
should declare that they are non-practising. |
As part of a five-year plan to improve the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s financial security and underpin the development of membership activities, the Council is to ask the Privy Council to agree an increase of £51 (25 per cent) on the members’ retention fee. Most other personal fees would also rise about 25 per cent in 2005.
At the August
Council meeting, the Council decided to take action to
move towards a firmer financial foundation for the Society’s core
activities, to establish healthy reserves and to support the Charter
objects of professional leadership, development and representation.
The Society finances its activities both from fee income (some £8.5m)
and from the surplus generated by its publications activities. Over the
years, the Society’s scope of activity — in membership activity
as well as regulation — has grown while the retention fee has failed
to keep pace, with the result that it is now among the lowest of the
UK health professions. As a result, the contribution from publications
has had to subsidise a significant part of the Society’s core work.
The Council agreed that it is not prudent to depend to such a large extent
on surplus income from publishing activities, which operate in a risk
market. The Council accepted that there was a need to look to the retention
fee to provide a secure income base that would underpin all the Society’s
core professional and regulatory activities.
The Council decided that over the next five years the retention fee will
need to be increased to bring it to a level that can sustain the full
scope of the Society’s membership and regulatory activity. For
2005, the Council is to ask for a 25 per cent increase, bringing the
retention fee up to £256 from £205. The plan is to move over
five years to a position whereby the contribution from publications can
be used to boost the Society’s reserves.
The Council was reminded that over recent years the Society’s cash
reserves have been drawn on to meet expenditure and the level of their
replenishment has depended largely on the year-end financial result.
The Council agreed that part of its duty is to safeguard the Society’s
long-term financial future by building the reserves back to an appropriate
level. A policy would be established to identify and commit to the maintenance
of an appropriate level of reserves.
The Council also agreed that a stable funding basis was necessary to
support the objects in the revised draft Charter. The Society is already
active in programmes to take forward professional development and professional
representation. New roles for the branches, work to promote local pharmacy
leadership and a review of the impact of devolution are among developments
in progress. The Council agreed that it was important for all these areas
of activity to enjoy a stable funding base so that programmes could be
planned and implemented as a core part of the Society’s work.
The Council further agreed to seek increases in the premises fees, with
the retention fee rising 20 per cent from £125 to £150. The
initial registration fee for premises would rise substantially from £163
to £460 to reflect the actual costs involved in registering a new
pharmacy, based on an inspector spending two days undertaking a review,
including initial review of papers, inspecting the premises and following
up with the relevant supporting documentation on findings and recommendations.
A Byelaw
amendment is published in this week’s Journal (p241).
Members have 60 days in which to comment on the proposed amendments.
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal