NHS Low Income Scheme

(asked on 2nd September 2016) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the overall cost of administering the NHS Low Income Scheme was in each of the last three years.


Answered by
 Portrait
David Mowat
This question was answered on 12th September 2016

The table below shows the number of applications to the NHS Low Income Scheme, and the certificates which were granted, in each year from 2008 to 2016:

Year

HC1s Received

HC2s Issued

HC3s Issued

2007/08

422,652

240,288

140,501

2008/09

445,608

252,037

148,018

2009/10

431,129

243,350

142,135

2010/11

433,075

249,193

139,375

2011/12

422,591

246,808

134,276

2012/13

399,375

229,618

122,580

2013/14

389,324

225,275

120,391

2014/15

385,131

214,975

113,964

2015/16

383,487

225,239

112,414

A HC2 certificate entitles the person (and their family) to full remission of the charge, whereas a HC3 certificate provides partial remission and indicates how much of the charge the person must pay.

Figures for apprentices who hold NHS Low Income Scheme certificates are not available, as information on who is an apprentice is not collected.

The overall cost to administer the NHS Low Income Scheme in the last three financial years are set out below. These figures represent the direct costs of the NHS Low Income Scheme service in England, Scotland and Wales. The figures do not include overheads associated with the wider infrastructure of the NHS Business Services Authority:

Year

Cost (£)

2015/16

1,469,034

2014/15

1,566,587

2013/14

1,594,957

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