On its meeting on 26 September 2024 our Council considered proposals to increase the annual registration fee by £6.98 to £123.34 and to increase other fees by an equivalent amount, as set out in this paper. The Council agreed to those proposals.
This decision follows an extensive consultation exercise with registrants, professional bodies, trade unions, and the general public between April and June 2024.
In 2023 we confirmed that regular incremental fee increases would be necessary in future years. This proposed increase agreed by the Council is the minimum amount necessary to continue to fund our programme of critical investments, including:
- Maintaining delivery of statutory registration, fitness to practise, education, and other regulatory responsibilities within performance standards.
- Making essential improvements over the next three years, including enhancing our registration and education services, contributing to decision making on the future of the health and care workforce, and supporting the continuous professional development of our registrants.
This increase of £6.98 per annum means the HCPC will still have among the lowest registrant fees of all the professional health and care regulators.
The increase will not be introduced until after a legislative approval process has been completed. If approved by the UK and Scottish parliaments, the fee rise would come into effect in 2025 at the earliest, with most professions not paying the revised fee until 2026 or 2027. We will maintain the 50% discount that graduate applicants receive for the first two professional years of registration.