The regulator confirmed today (August 15) that it is recruiting five new council members over the next two years.

A GPhC spokesperson told C+D the roles are being advertised because current council members are coming to the end of their terms in office.

Three new members will join the GPhC in April 2024, and two will join the following April.

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The council has 14 members and is the regulator’s governing body. Half of the council are lay members, which “helps raise public confidence”, and “brings fresh perspectives” to the GPhC, according to the regulator's appointment brief.

According to the GPhC’s job advertisement, one of the three new members joining from 2024 should live or work “wholly or mostly” in Wales, two should be lay people, and one should be registered with the GPhC as a pharmacist or a pharmacy technician.

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For the 2025 appointments, one member should be a lay person, and the other should be registered with the GPhC, it said.

The members will be appointed for an initial three-year term, and can hold their position for a maximum of eight years.

Yearly pay

Council members receive £15,000 per year, subject to deductions, and can receive additional income of £2,500 per year for any “significant extra responsibility”, such as chairing a committee. The time commitment is “up to 30 days a year”, according to the appointment brief.

The brief also details that the council must include at least one member who lives or works in each of England, Scotland and Wales, the countries subject to the regulator.

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Lay members must not hold any qualifications that would allow them to register with the regulator, nor may they be registered or have registered anywhere in the world as a “health and social care professional”, according to the appointment brief.

Applications close on September 18, 2023.

Last year, members of the GPhC voted to give themselves a 20% pay rise – equivalent to a yearly £2,500 uplift – in their May council meeting.

Read more: GPhC council members voted to give themselves 20% pay rise in May meeting

It marked the first rise in council member remuneration since April 2018, following a report that showed “GPhC remuneration was lower than the median figure for the wider pool of regulators”.