Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with the Nursing and Midwifery Council on its proposals to increase professional fees for nurses by £20 per annum later in 2014.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is an independent body and it is therefore for the NMC Council to determine the level of the annual fee it charges for registration. On 26 March 2014, the NMC Council reviewed the level of this fee and agreed a proposal to increase it from £100 per annum to £120 in March 2015. The NMC is running a public consultation between 8 May and 31 July 2014, where its proposal is open to scrutiny. No decision on the proposed fee increase has been made at present.

Ministers keep the issue of professional regulation under regular review and the Department has frequent contact with professional regulators, including the NMC. On 12 March 2014, I met with representatives of the NMC for a regular update meeting. This meeting was not specifically set up to discuss the NMC registration fee, but during this meeting the NMC provided information about its fee review process.