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

Statutory Instruments

2012 No. 515

National Health Service, England

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

Made

23rd February 2012

Laid before Parliament

29th February 2012

Coming into force

1st April 2012

The Secretary of State for Health makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 115(3)(b), 179 and 272(7) and (8) of the National Health Service Act 2006(1).

Citation, commencement, interpretation and application

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 and come into force on 1st April 2012.

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

(3) These Regulations apply in relation to England.

Amendments to the principal Regulations

2.—(1) The principal Regulations are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 19 (redemption value of voucher for replacement or repair)—

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

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

(3) 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) Old amount	(2) 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

(4) 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”.

(5) In Schedule 3 (voucher values repair), for the Table, substitute —

“(1) Nature of Repair	(2) 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”

Transitional Provision

3.  The amounts substituted by regulation 2(2) to (5) shall apply only in relation to a voucher accepted or used pursuant to regulation 12 (use of vouchers for supply of optical appliances) or regulation 17 (use of vouchers for replacement or repair) of the principal Regulations on or after 1st April 2012.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health.

Earl Howe

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,

Department of Health

23rd February 2012

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations 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(2) amends regulation 19 of the principal 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 by an overall increase of approximately 2.5%.

Regulation 2(3), (4) and (5) amends the Schedules to the principal 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 3 makes transitional provision. In relation to vouchers accepted or used on or before 31st March 2012, the old rates of payments will apply. For vouchers accepted or used on or after 1 April 2012, the new rates of payments will apply.

(1)

2006 c.41. See section 275(1) for the definition of “regulations”.

(2)

S.I. 1997/818; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1999/609, 2000/594, 2002/547, 2003/657, 2004/642 and 1138, 2005/483, 2006/479, 2008/553 and 2449 and 2009/409.