- Statutory Instrument 2006 No. 479
The National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Amendment Regulations 2006
© Crown Copyright 2006
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| Made | 23rd February 2006 | ||
| Laid before Parliament | 10th March 2006 | ||
| Coming into force | 1st April 2006 |
The Secretary of State for Health makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred on her by section 126(4) of, and paragraph 2A of Schedule 12 to, the National Health Service Act 1977[1].
Citation, commencement, interpretation and application
1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Amendment Regulations 2006 and shall come into force on 1st April 2006.
(2) These Regulations apply in relation to England.
(3) In these Regulations "the Optical Regulations" means the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Regulations 1997[2].
Amendments to the Optical Regulations
2. In regulation 19 (redemption value of voucher for replacement or repair)—
-
(a) in paragraph (1)(b), for "£48.00" substitute "£49.20"; and
(b) in paragraph (3), for "£12.40" substitute "£12.70".
Amendments to the Schedules to the Optical Regulations
3.
—(1) In Schedule 1 to the Optical Regulations (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 |
| £32.90 | £33.70 |
| £50.00 | £51.20 |
| £73.10 | £74.90 |
| £165.00 | £169.10 |
| £56.80 | £58.20 |
| £72.20 | £74.00 |
| £93.60 | £95.90 |
| £181.40 | £185.90 |
| £169.00 | £173.20 |
| £48.00 | £49.20 |
(2) In Schedule 2 to the Optical Regulations (prisms, tints, photocromic lenses, small and special glasses and complex appliances)—
-
(a) in paragraph 1(1)(a), for "£10.70" substitute "£11.00";
(b) in paragraph 1(1)(b), for "£12.80" substitute "£13.10";
(c) in paragraph 1(1)(c), for "£3.60" substitute "£3.70";
(d) in paragraph 1(1)(d), for "£4.10" substitute "£4.20";
(e) in paragraph 1(1)(e), for "£54.10", "£48.00" and "£26.00" substitute "£55.50", "£49.20" and "£26.60" respectively;
(f) in paragraph 1(1)(g), for "£54.10" substitute "£55.50";
(g) in paragraph 2(a), for "£12.40" substitute "£12.70"; and
(h) in paragraph 2(b), for "£31.30" substitute "£32.10".
(3) For Schedule 3 to the Optical Regulations (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 shall apply only in relation to a voucher accepted or used pursuant to regulation 12 or regulation 17 of the Optical Regulations on or after 1st April 2006.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health
Rosie Winterton
Minister of State, Department of Health
23rd February 2006
|
(1) Nature of Repair |
(2) Letter of Codes-Values |
||||||||
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Repair or replace-ment of one lens | 10.50 | 19.25 | 31.10 | 78.20 | 22.75 | 30.65 | 41.60 | 86.60 | 80.25 |
| Repair or replace-ment of two lenses | 21.00 | 38.50 | 62.20 | 156.40 | 45.50 | 61.30 | 83.20 | 173.20 | 160.50 |
| Repair or replace-ment of: | |||||||||
| The front of a frame | 10.75 | 10.75 | 10.75 | 10.75 | 10.75 | 10.75 | 10.75 | 10.75 | 10.75 |
| A side of a frame | 6.40 | 6.40 | 6.40 | 6.40 | 6.40 | 6.40 | 6.40 | 6.40 | 6.40 |
| The whole frame | 12.70 | 12.70 | 12.70 | 12.70 | 12.70 | 12.70 | 12.70 | 12.70 | 12.70" |
(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 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 repair of a frame.
Regulation 3 and the Schedule amend the Schedules 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, photocromic 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% .
These Regulations do not impose a cost on business.
Notes:
[1] 1977 c.49. Section 126 (4) was amended by section 65(2) of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c.19), by section 65(1) of, and paragraphs 37(1) and(6) of Schedule 4 to the Health Act 1999(c.8) ("the 1999 Act"), by section 67(1) of, and paragraphs 5(1) and 13(b) of Schedule 5 to the Health and Social Care Act 2001(c.15), by section 6(3)(c) and 37(1) of, and paragraphs 1 and 10 of Schedule 8 to, the NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 (c.17) and by sections 184, 196 and paragraphs 7 and 38 of Schedule 11 to, and Part 4 of Schedule 14 to, the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003(c.43). Paragraph 2A of Schedule 12 was inserted by Schedule 1, paragraph 3 of the Health and Social Security Act 1984 (c.48) and amended by section 13(2) and (3) of the Health and Medicines Act 1988 (c.49). The functions of the Secretary of State under the above mentioned powers are transferred to the National Assembly for Wales under 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.back
[2] S.I. 1997/818, as amended by S.I. 1999/609, S.I. 1999/2562, S.I. 2000/594, S.I. 2001/414, S.I. 2001/3066, S.I. 2001/3323, S.I. 2002/547, S.I. 2002/1326, S.I. 2003/657, S.I. 2003/2381, S.I. 2004/642, S.I. 2004/936, S.I. 2004/1138 and S.I. 2005/483.back
ISBN 0 11 074101 3