The General Pharmaceutical Council has confirmed it will develop a “longer-term and multi-pronged fee strategy” in its next five-year strategy, which will cover the period from 2025 to 2030.   

In a report from the GPhC’s finance and planning committee (FPC) that is included in papers released ahead of a council meeting on Thursday July 18, the regulator said the five-year plan will be developed over the next 12 months, and that it will have a “particular focus” on ensuring the regulator can achieve a “sustainable financial position”.  

The FPC said that a “key cornerstone” of this work will involve a review of “what the GPhC registers, the basis of registration and the information used as registration and renewal,” adding: “The outcome of this work is likely to lead policy approaches that will drive the content of the GPhC’s fee policy.”

Commenting on the work that has been done to date, the FPC said: “The focus of the committee has been to ensure the GPhC takes a holistic approach to its finances when setting future fee policy which considers the relative options between income generation, use of reserves and investment alongside the assessment and scrutiny of the GPhC’s existing expenditure.”

In April this year, the GPhC implemented a 7.5 per cent hike to registration and renewal fees for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy premises in the face of overwhelming opposition from the sector, citing the impact of inflationary pressures.

The committee added that it will execute “deep dives on specific areas of cost” on a rotational basis, and that it will “renew its focus on the short term in-year management of the GPhC’s finances” in light of the fact the regulator ran a deficit of £1.4m in the 12 months to April 2024.

The report also reveals that the GPhC’s decision to move to new London offices in the summer of 2023, which was budgeted as saving the organisation £0.9m, has delivered savings “in line with expectations”. 

A separate report from the regulator’s quality and performance assurance committee (QPAC), also included in the July meeting papers, reveals that the GPhC has reviewed “improvement plans” submitted by three schools of pharmacies “whose graduates have a history of poor performance in the registration assessment” and “will continue to monitor progress in this area”.