The National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) (Amendment)(Wales) Regulations 2012

Welsh Statutory Instruments

2012 No. 684 (W.92)

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, WALES

The National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) (Amendment)(Wales) Regulations 2012

Made

4 March 2012

Laid before the National Assembly for Wales

6 Mawrth 2012

Coming into force

1 April 2012

The Welsh Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 128, 129 and 203(9) and (10) of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006(1).

Title, commencement, application and interpretation

1.—(1) The title of these Regulations is the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2012 and they come into force on 1 April 2012.

(2) These Regulations apply in relation to Wales.

(3) In these Regulations —

“the Optical Regulations” (“y Rheoliadau Optegol”) means the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Regulations 1997(2).

Amendment of regulation 19 of the Optical Regulations

2.  Regulation 19 of the Optical Regulations (redemption value of voucher for replacement or repair) is amended as follows —

(a) in paragraph (1)(b), for “£52.90” substitute “£54.20 ”; and

(b) in paragraph (3), for “£13.70” substitute “£14.00 ”.

Amendments to the Schedules to the Optical Regulations

3.—(1) Schedules 1 to 3 to the Optical Regulations are amended in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) In Schedule 1 (voucher letter codes and face values-supply and replacement) in column (3) of the table (face value of voucher), for each amount specified in column (1) of the table below substitute the amount specified in relation to it in column (2) of the table below:

(1)	(2)
Old amount	New amount
£36.20	£37.10
£55.10	£56.40
£80.60	£82.60
£182.00	£186.50
£62.70	£64.20
£79.70	£81.60
£103.30	£105.80
£200.10	£205.10
£186.40	£191.00
£52.90	£54.20

(3) In Schedule 2 (prisms, tints, photochromic lenses, small and special glasses and complex appliances)—

(a) in paragraph 1(1)(a), for “£11.80” substitute “£12.10;

(b) in paragraph (1)(1)(b), for “£14.20” substitute “£14.60 ”;

(c) in paragraph 1(1)(c), for “£4.00” substitute “£4.10 ”;

(d) in paragraph 1(1)(d), for “£4.50” substitute “£4.60 ”;

(e) in paragraph 1(1)(e), for “£59.70”, “£52.90” and “£28.60” substitute “£61.20”, “£54.20” and “£29.30” respectively;

(f) in paragraph 1(1)(g), for “£59.70” substitute “£61.20 ”;

(g) in paragraph 2(a), for “£13.70” substitute “£14.00 ”; and

(h) in paragraph 2(b), for “£34.60” substitute “£35.50 ”.

(4) For Schedule 3 (voucher values-repair), substitute the Schedule 3 set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

Transitional Provision

4.  The amounts substituted by regulations 2 and 3 apply only in relation to a voucher accepted or used pursuant to regulation 12 or regulation 17 of the Optical Regulations on or after 1 April 2012.

Lesley Griffiths

Minister for Health and Social Services, one of the Welsh Ministers

4 March 2012

Regulation 3(4)

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

Regulation 19(2) and (3)

“SCHEDULE 3 VOUCHER VALUES REPAIR

(1)	(2)
Nature of Repair	Letter of Codes — Values
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I
	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
Repair or replacement of one lens	11.55	21.20	34.30	86.25	25.10	33.80	45.90	95.55	88.50
Repair or replacement of two lenses	23.10	42.40	68.60	172.50	50.20	67.60	91.80	191.10	177.00
Repair or replacement of:
The front of a frame	11.90	11.90	11.90	11.90	11.90	11.90	11.90	11.90	11.90
A side of a frame	7.05	7.05	7.05	7.05	7.05	7.05	7.05	7.05	7.05
The whole frame	14.00	14.00	14.00	14.00	14.00	14.00	14.00	14.00	14.00”.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Regulations 1997 (“the Optical 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 19 of the Optical Regulations 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 voucher to the cost of a repair of a frame.

Regulation 3 and the Schedule amend Schedules 1, 2 and 3 to the Optical Regulations to increase the value of vouchers issued towards the costs of the supply and replacement of glasses and contact lenses, to increase the additional values for vouchers for prisms, tints, photochromic lenses and special categories of appliances and to increase the value of vouchers issued towards the cost of the repair and replacement of optical appliances. The rate of increase in the value of vouchers in these Regulations is approximately 2.5%.

Regulation 4 makes transitional provision in relation to vouchers accepted or used on or before 31 March 2012.

The Welsh Ministers' Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, it was not considered necessary to carry out a regulatory impact assessment as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations.

(1)

2006 c. 42.

(2)

S.I. 1997/818 as amended.