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The Government is to freeze the prescription charge in England at £9.90 for the 2025-26 financial year in a move it says will support people with the cost of living. 

Three month prescription payment certificates will be frozen at £32.05 and 12-month PPCs at £114.50.

Announcing the first prescription charge freeze in three years, health secretary Wes Streeting said the decision would "put money back into the pockets of millions of patients".

Labour said the freeze would save patients who pay for their prescriptions a total of £18m over the year but has not yet indicated where this figure has come from. P3pharmacy has approached the Department of Health and Social Care for clarification. 

Mr Streeting added: “We made the difficult but necessary choices at the Budget to fund moves like this and change our NHS so it can once again be there for you when you need it.”

Roughly 89 per cent of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge. Groups eligible for free prescriptions include children, pregnant women and over-60s.

Jonathan Blades, head of policy at Asthma + Lung UK, said the freeze was a "welcome first step" that would offer "short-term relief".

"Living with a long-term lung condition like asthma and COPD is expensive and rising prescription costs only make it harder for people to manage their condition and stay well," said Mr Blades.

There have long been calls to axe prescription charges in England to bring the country in line with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a 2024 survey by the Pharmacists' Defence Association finding that most pharmacists have had a patient decline a prescribed medicine over concerns they can't afford the £9.90 fee.

National Pharmacy Association chair Nick Kaye commented: "It is good news for patients and pharmacies that the government has taken the step to freeze the prescription charge today for the first time in three years.
 
"However, we've long called for the prescription charge to be scrapped, which acts as a barrier to some patients accessing vital medication and this is something we'd urge the government to work towards. 
 
"As pharmacists, we are health care professionals and have no interest in being tax collectors.”

Numark chairman Harry McQuillan welcomed Labour's decision to freeze prescription costs but said "a bigger step would be achieved by removing this tax collection burden from the community pharmacy network altogether to allow the clinicians present to focus on care provision".

"With rising living costs, it’s important that consumers are given the reassurance and confidence community pharmacy is an accessible healthcare pillar for vital medication and advice on everyday healthcare needs," he said.

"While picking up prescriptions, customers often use the opportunity to discuss other health concerns with their pharmacist which has a positive impact on early detection and protecting the overall health of local communities.

"Assuming pharmacists continue to be reimbursed for dispensing at the appropriate levels, this can be viewed as a small step in the right direction for the future of community healthcare."