NMC will proceed with consultation on registration fee rise

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is to go ahead with a public consultation on proposals to increase registration fees for registered nurses, midwives and nursing associates in autumn 2025.

The decision was approved in an extraordinary meeting of NMC Council today, led by Rob Barclay-Smith, chair of the Council.

It will be a 12-week consultation process, with any fee increase agreed expected to come into place on 1 October 2026, after scrutiny from Council.

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The decision comes after a 10-year freeze in NMC fees, currently at £120 per year, which the regulator says is no longer viable – claiming that the NMC’s income has reduced in real terms by 28% during that time, equating to £180m of lost revenue by the end of this financial year.

The NMC has said that freezing fees since 2015 has required it to use reserves to pay for running costs over the past three years, meaning that a continued freeze in fees is ‘no longer sustainable’.

A closed-door discussion of NMC in June endorsed a ‘flat rate increase to the annual registration fee and all other fees’.

Also discussed, according to NMC minutes, were plans to include in the consultation document a ‘preference’ for ‘smaller, more regular fee increases’ in the future.

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The NMC, employing 1,400 people, is financed by fees paid by nurses, midwives and nursing associates.

Paul Rees, NMC chief executive and registrar, has said that revenue from a fee increase would be used to support ‘ongoing transformation of the NMC’, including its work to improve fitness to practise and education and standards, and fix its culture to ensure it is an ‘anti-racist organisation’.

The move to put forward proposals for a consultation on a fee rise was first revealed exclusively by Nursing in Practice.

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Nursing in Practice readers have expressed concern about a proposed fee increase, and the union Unison has warned about the likely consequences of an ‘extra financial burden’ for nurses.

This is a breaking news story, more to follow