The National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Amendment Regulations 2001

Statutory Instruments

2001 No. 749

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, ENGLAND

The National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Amendment Regulations 2001

Made

15th March 2001

Laid before Parliament

16th March 2001

Coming into force

except for regulation 2

1st April 2001

regulation 2

10th April 2001

The Secretary of State for Health, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 38, 78(1) and 126(4) of, and paragraphs 2 and 2A of Schedule 12 to, the National Health Service Act 1977(1) and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations—

Citation, commencement, interpretation and extent

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Amendment Regulations 2001.

(2) These Regulations shall come into force—

(a) except for regulation 2, on 1st April 2001; and

(b) regulation 2, on 10th April 2001.

(3) In these Regulations “the principal Regulations” means the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Regulations 1997(2).

(4) These Regulations extend to England only.

Amendment of regulation 8 of the principal Regulations

2.  In regulation 8(3)(c) and (g) of the principal Regulations (eligibility—supply of optical appliances)(3) for “£70.00” on each occasion it appears there shall be substituted “£71.00”.

Amendment of regulation 19 of the principal Regulations

3.  In regulation 19 of the principal Regulations (redemption value of voucher for replacement or repair)—

(a) in paragraph (1)(b) for “£42.80” there shall be substituted “£43.90”; and

(b) in paragraph (3) for “£11.00” there shall be substituted “£11.30”.

Amendment of the Schedules to the principal Regulations

4.—(1) In Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (voucher letter codes and face values—supply and replacement) in column (3) (face value of voucher), for each amount specified in column 1 of the table below there shall be substituted the amount specified in relation to it in column 2 of that table.

TABLE

(1)	(2)
Old amount	New amount
£29.30	£30.00
£44.50	£45.60
£60.60	£62.10
£136.90	£140.30
£50.50	£51.80
£64.30	£65.90
£77.30	£79.60
£150.50 (in both places where it appears)	£154.30
£42.80	£43.90

(2) In Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations (prisms, tints, photochromic lenses, small and special glasses and complex appliances)—

(a) in paragraph 1(1)(a) for “£6.10” there shall be substituted “£6.30”;

(b) in paragraph 1(1)(b) for “£7.00” there shall be substituted “£7.20”;

(c) in paragraph 1(1)(c) for “£3.10” there shall be substituted “£3.20”;

(d) in paragraph 1(1)(d) for “£3.60” there shall be substituted “£3.70”;

(e) in paragraph 1(1)(e) for “£48.20”, “£42.80”, and “£23.20” there shall be substituted “£49.40”, “£43.90” and “£23.80” respectively;

(f) in paragraph 1(1)(g) for “£48.20” there shall be substituted “£49.40”;

(g) in paragraph 2(a) for “£10.20” there shall be substituted “£10.50”;

(h) in paragraph 2(b) for “£25.90” there shall be substituted “£26.50”.

(3) For Schedule 3 to the principal Regulations (voucher values—repair), there shall be substituted the Schedule 3 set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

Application of these Regulations

5.  The amendments made in these Regulations apply only in relation to a voucher accepted or used pursuant to regulation 12 or regulation 17 of the principal Regulations on or after 1st April 2001.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health

Hunt

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,

Department of Health

15th March 2001

Regulation 4(3)

SCHEDULE SCHEDULE 3 TO THE PRINCIPAL REGULATIONS AS SUBSTITUTED BY THESE REGULATIONS

Regulation 19(2) and (3)

SCHEDULE 3 VOUCHER VALUES—REPAIR

(1)	(2)
Nature of Repair	Letter Codes—Values
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H&I
	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
Repair or replacement of one lens	9.35	17.15	25.40	64.50	20.25	27.30	34.15	71.50
Repair or replacement of two lenses	18.70	34.30	50.80	129.00	40.50	54.60	68.30	143.00
Repair or replacement of:
the front of a frame	9.60	9.60	9.60	9.60	9.60	9.60	9.60	9.60
a side of a frame	5.70	5.70	5.70	5.70	5.70	5.70	5.70	5.70
the whole frame	11.30	11.30	11.30	11.30	11.30	11.30	11.30	11.30

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations further amend the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Regulations 1997 (“the principal Regulations”) which provide for payments to be made by means of a voucher system in respect of costs incurred by certain categories of persons in connection with the supply, replacement and repair of optical appliances.

Regulation 2 amends regulation 8 of the principal Regulations to increase the income level at which recipients of tax credits are entitled to NHS optical vouchers.

Regulation 3 amends regulation 19 of the principal Regulations (redemption value of voucher for replacement or repair) to increase the redemption value of a voucher issued towards the cost of replacement of a single contact lens and to increase the maximum contribution by way of a voucher to the cost of repair of a frame.

Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations is amended by regulation 3 to increase the value of vouchers issued towards the costs of the supply and replacement of glasses and contact lenses. Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations is amended to increase the additional values for vouchers for prisms, tints, photochromic lenses and special categories of appliances.

A new Schedule 3 is substituted in the principal Regulations to increase the value of vouchers issued towards the cost of the repair and replacement of optical appliances (regulation 3 and the Schedule).

The rate of increase is, on average, 2.5%.

(1)

1977 c. 49; see section 128(1) as amended by the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c. 19) (“the 1990 Act”), section 28(3)(g) and (i), for the definitions of “prescribed” and “regulations”. Section 126(4) was amended by the 1990 Act, section 65(2) and by the Health Act 1999 (c. 8) (“the 1999 Act”), Schedule 4, paragraph 37(6). Paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 12 was substituted by the Health and Medicines Act 1988 (c. 49) (“the 1988 Act”), Schedule 2, paragraph 8(1); and paragraph 2A of Schedule 12 was inserted by the Health and Social Security Act 1984 (c. 48), Schedule 1, Part 1, paragraph 3 and amended by section 13(2) and (3) of the 1988 Act. The functions of the Secretary of State under the National Health Service Act 1977 are, so far as exercisable in relation to Wales, transferred to the National Assembly for Wales by article 2(a) of the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999, S.I. 1999/672 as amended by section 66(5) of the 1999 Act.

(2)

S.I. 1997/818 as amended by S.I. 1997/2488, 1998/499, 1999/609, 2000/594, 2000/3029 and 2001/414.

(3)

As amended by S.I. 1999/2562.