Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have benefitted from the NHS low income scheme (HC2 certificate) each year in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, (3) 2017, (4) 2018, and (5) 2019.

The information requested on the number of people who have paid for prescriptions is not collected centrally. The NHS Business Services Authority collects data on the number of prescription items dispensed and paid for but does not hold data on the number of people who have paid for their prescriptions.

The NHS Business Services Authority processes the NHS Low Income Scheme and issues HC2 certificates. It does not hold data on how many people have used their certificate after it is issued; and multiple people in a household in addition to the applicant might be covered by a certificate, including partner and children. However, data is supplied on the number of HC2 certificates issued in 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. This is shown in the following table:

Note: Data is recorded April-March. Data provided is recorded on a monthly basis and recorded in the NHS Low Income Scheme Annual Statistics Report. This data relates to the number of certificates issued, not the number of people supported by the NHS Low Income Scheme.