The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has proposed slashing pharmacist and technician registration renewal fees by 10 per cent this year in light of the "continuing pressure on incomes".

The pharmacy regulator is set to vote on the fee decrease at its meeting this Thursday (February 9) and will then consult on the matter. The move would see pharmacists' fees reduced by £27 a year to £240 and technicians' fees reduced by £12 to £108 from October. Credit card charges will remain at 2 per cent to reflect the charge levied on the GPhC by credit card companies, it said.

Surplus: fee cut would see GPhC budget surplus halved	Hundreds miss GPhC registration deadline GPhC starts work on extra fitness-to-practise checks GPhC confirms dispensing error policy
	Cutting registration fees would be "appropriate" in light of the tough economic climate, the GPhC announced in papers released ahead of the meeting. It added that efficiency gains and a higher-than-anticipated number of registrants had "created the potential for some reductions in fees".

The announcement came after GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin pledged, in an interview with C+D in September, to "bear in mind" the organisation's high budget surplus when setting this year's registration fees. The council has estimated that the proposed reduction in registration fees would give it a budget surplus of £3.3million for 2012-13, nearly half of the forecasted £6.4m for 2011-12.

Meanwhile, premises fees will remain unchanged at £221 as the GPhC works on "further development of its approach to regulating registered pharmacies". The fee for rejoining the register will also remain the same.

The council announced that it would also aim to save £1m in 2012-13 by no longer outsourcing its finance and IT database development work to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. The GPhC will take these in-house, which it says will provide "a more effective and cheaper service".

If the GPhC agrees on the proposed fee changes, it will run a consultation on the new fees until May.

Are these cuts big enough in light of the GPhC's budget surplus? Comment below or email us at [email protected] You can also find C+D on TwitterLinkedIn and Facebook