§ Mr. Denzil DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) following the judgment of the European Court of Justice of 19 October 1995 on prescription charges for men and women at the age of 60 years or over, how many appeals against his Department's restriction of the effect of the judgment to the period commencing 20 July 1995 have been received; and how many were successful; [39348]
107W(2) how many eligible claims based on the purchase of pre-payment certificates his Department has received; and what has been the total cost to date of meeting the said claims. [39350]
§ Mr. Win GriffithsThe information on how many appeals have been received against the restriction of the effect of the judgment to the period commencing 20 July 1995 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. One refund was paid for the period before 20 July 1995.
Claims were handled on a UK basis by the Prescription Pricing Authority. The Authority paid £223,670 on 4,695 prescription prepayment certificate claims originating in Wales. The Authority paid a further £3,817 on 69 combined prescription charge refund and prescription prepayment certificate claims. We estimate that Health Authorities paid approximately £23,610 on prescription prepayment certificate claims, but information is not available centrally on the numbers of these claims.