The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) has today launched a consultation on proposals to increase the registration fees it charges.
In the consultation, we are proposing an increase in the renewal fee from £90 to £106 per year, with a similar level of increases to the other fees we charge.
The increases are needed to support our new strategic focus of promoting professionalism and preventing fitness to practise issues from arising. We also need to continue to invest in the services we offer to registrants. The consultation takes place in the context of keeping pace with the cost of inflation and the impact on our operations and income when social workers in England transfer to Social Work England in 2019.
Unlike some other health and care regulators, we do not make regular or inflation-linked increases to the registration fees we charge. This is because, if we want to revise our fees, our governing legislation requires us to consult stakeholders and to obtain an order from the Privy Council approving the change which must then be laid before the UK and Scottish parliaments. This can be a costly, time-consuming and unpredictable process.
You can find more information on these proposals in the consultation document. It sets out where the fees are spent and why the increases are needed. It also provides information on our financial performance, including the efficiencies we have already made.
Social workers in England will be moving to a new regulator next year. If there is no change to this, these proposals will not affect them. However, in order to continue practising, they must renew their registration with us between 1 September and 30 November 2018.