The National Health Service (Payments for Optical Appliances) Amendment (No. 3) Regulations 1988

Made: 11th August 1988

Laid before Parliament: 11th August 1988

Coming into force: 1st September 1988

The Secretary of State, in exercise of powers conferred by paragraph 2A of Schedule 12 to the National Health Service Act 1977[^f00001] and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (Payments for Optical Appliances) Amendment (No. 3) Regulations 1988 and shall come into force on 1st September 1988.

• (2) In these Regulations “the principal Regulations” means the National Health Service (Payments for Optical Appliances) Regulations 1986[^f00002].

Amendment of the principal Regulations

2

• (1) For each amount specified in column 2 of the Schedule to these Regulations, where it appears in column 3 in Part I of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations in relation to the letter code specified in column 1 of the Schedule to these Regulations, there is substituted the amount specified in column 3 of the Schedule to these Regulations.

• (2) In Part II of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (prisms, tints, photochromic lenses, special glasses and complex appliances), in paragraph 1(1)(e) and (g) for “£30.00” and “£30” respectively there is substituted in each case “£31.50”.

Application of Regulations and revocations

3

• (1) The increases effected by these Regulations apply only in relation to vouchers accepted pursuant to regulation 6 of the principal Regulations on or after 1st September 1988 or sent to a health authority pursuant to regulation 8(2)(c) of the principal Regulations in respect of cost incurred on or after that date; and for the purposes of those Regulations the redemption value of a voucher so accepted before that date or so sent in respect of cost incurred before that date shall be determined according to its face value when it was accepted or when the cost was incurred.

• (2) Regulation 2(4) of, and Schedule 1 to, the National Health Service (Payments for Optical Appliances) Amendment Regulations 1988[^f00003] are revoked.

SCHEDULE — AMOUNTS SUBSTITUTED IN PART I OF SCHEDULE 1 TO THE PRINCIPAL REGULATIONS

Signed

Kenneth Baker — One of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State — 11th August 1988

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the National Health Service (Payments for Optical Appliances) Regulations 1986 which provide for payments to be made, by means of a voucher system, in respect of the cost incurred by certain categories of persons for the supply of optical appliances supplied following a sight test under the National Health Service in England and Wales.

The values of the vouchers (which bear a letter code according to the type of appliance prescribed or the type of lenses in it) are increased by an average of approximately 5% (regulation 2(1) and the Schedule) and additions for glasses for those with an inter-pupillary distance of 60 millimetres or less and glasses with specially manufactured frames are increased by 5% (regulation 2(2)).

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1977 c. 49; see section 128(1) for the definitions of “prescribed” and “regulations”; paragraph 2A of Schedule 12 was inserted by the Health and Social Security Act 1984 (c. 48), Schedule 1, Part I, paragraph 3.

[^f00002]: S.I. 1986/976, amended by S.I. 1986/1136 and 1988/428 and 552.

[^f00003]: S.I. 1988/428.