Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was paid in prescription charges in England and Wales in 2015-16.

We do not have an audited figure for the total amount paid in prescription charges in England in the community for 2015-16. However, provisional data for this 2015-16 financial year indicates that, up to the end of February 2016, £402.7 million was paid. An additional £124.4 million was also paid up to the end of March 2016 through the purchase of prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs). For 2014-15, which is the latest year for which we have an audited figure, revenue from prescriptions charges dispensed in the community, including PPC revenue, totalled £503.9 million. Approximately 90% of prescriptions are dispensed in England without charge.

Prescription charges were abolished in Wales in 2007, and the Department does not have data on prescription charges collected in Wales for prescriptions issued in England.