1999 No. 2841 (W.21)
NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, WALES

The National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) and (General Ophthalmic Services) Amendment (Wales) Regulations 1999

Made
Coming into force
The National Assembly for Wales makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred on the Secretary of State for Wales by sections 38(1), (3), (4) and (6), 39, 78, 126(4) and 128(1) and paragraphs 2 and 2A of Schedule 12 to the National Health Service Act 19771 and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf and now vested in the National Assembly for Wales2:

Citation, commencement, interpretation and extent1.

(1)

These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) and (General Ophthalmic Services) Amendment (Wales) Regulations 1999 and shall come into force on 5th October 1999.

(2)

In these Regulations —

“the 1997 Regulations” means the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Regulations 19973;
“the 1986 Regulations” means the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) Regulations 19864;
“the 1999 Regulations” means the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) and (General Ophthalmic Services)(Amendment) Regulations 19995 and the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) (Amendment) Regulations 19996.

(3)

These Regulations shall apply to Wales only.

Amendment of the 1997 Regulations2.

—At the end of regulation 1 of the 1997 Regulations there shall be inserted the following paragraph —

“(5)

In respect of paragraph (2) of this regulation and regulation 8 the amendments made by the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) and (General Ophthalmic Services) Regulations 199967 shall also have effect in Wales.”.

Amendment of the 1986 Regulations3.

—At the end of regulation 2 of the 1986 Regulations there shall be inserted the following paragraph —

“(3)

In respect of paragraph (1) of this regulation and regulation 13 the amendments made by the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) and (General Ophthalmic Services) Regulations 199967 and the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) (Amendment) Regulations 199978 shall also have effect in Wales.”.

Transitional Provision4.

(1)

Where immediately before 5th October 1999 a person, or a member of his family was in receipt of disability working allowance or family credit, as the case may be, the amendments made by the 1999 Regulations, as they have effect in Wales by virtue of these Regulations, shall not have effect in his case for so long as he, or a member of his family, as the case may be, continues to be in receipt of disability working allowance or family credit.

(2)

In this regulation, “disability working allowance” and “family credit” shall continue to have the meaning given to them in the 1997 Regulations or the 1986 Regulations, as the case may be, immediately before the coming into force of these Regulations.

Signed on behalf of the National Assembly for Wales under section 66(1) of the Government of Wales Act 19989.
D. Elis Thomas
The Presiding Officer of the National Assembly of Wales
(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations have effect to amend the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Regulations 1997 (“the 1997 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. These Regulations also amend the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) Regulations 1986 (“the 1986 Regulations”) which provide for the arrangements under which ophthalmic medical practitioners and ophthalmic opticians provide ophthalmic services.

The textual amendments of the 1997 Regulations and the 1986 Regulations which are made by the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) and (General Ophthalmic Services) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 and the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 and which extend to England are made to have effect in Wales.

In relation to both the 1997 Regulations and the 1986 Regulations the amendments insert a definition of “amount withdrawn” and substitute the definition of “disability working allowance” with a definition of “disabled person’s tax credit” and also substitute the definition of “family credit” with a definition of “working families' tax credit”.

Regulation 8 of the 1997 Regulations defines the persons who are eligible for payments to meet, or to contribute towards the cost of being supplied with glasses and other optical appliances. The amendments to this regulation take account of the changes occurring on 5th October 1999 in the income tax and social security systems when family credit and disability working allowance are replaced by working families' tax credit and disabled person’s tax credit.

The amendments similarly alter regulation 13 of the 1986 Regulations which defines eligibility for free sight tests.

The regulations contain a transitional provision that provides that the entitlement to free sight tests or payments towards the cost of glasses and other optical appliances shall continue whilst payment of family credit or disability working allowance continues.