Request

Please could you tell me for each of the years stated: 1: How many fines have been imposed for non-payment of prescriptions. 2: The total value of the fines. 3: The number of fines that were withdrawn on appeal. Thank you.

Date range: 31/03/2019 - 31/03/2025

Response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested, and this has been provided in the attached spread sheet.

The data provided is in relation to the Prescription Exemption Checking Service (PECS). Please note that the information provided below relates to penalty charges notices (PCNs), these are not legally classed as “fines”.

Date range: 1 April 2019 - 31 March 2025.

Please note, we paused issuing cases in March 2020 and resumed issuing cases in December 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which explains the lower numbers for those years.

Publishing this response

Please note that this information will be published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02718

Your personal details will be removed from the published response.

Data Queries

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data. Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2025”. Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.