Ministers have laid a narrow but financially material update to the NHS branded medicines statutory scheme. The Branded Health Service Medicines (Costs) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 were made on 9 June 2026, laid before Parliament on 10 June 2026, and come into force on 1 July 2026. The instrument applies across England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It was signed by Preet Kaur Gill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, and amends regulation 3 of the 2018 scheme, under which certain manufacturers and suppliers of branded medicines for health service use must make payments to the Secretary of State by reference to net sales income or estimated net sales income.
The central legal change is a replacement of the payment table in regulation 3(1). From 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2026, the standard payment percentage for newer presentations is set at 16.5%, while the rate for older presentations is 11%. From 1 January 2027, the newer presentation rate remains 16.5% and the older presentation rate becomes 10.9%. In practical terms, the instrument resets the second-half 2026 charge for newer branded products while preserving the wider structure of the statutory scheme.
The more important operational provision sits in the amendments to paragraphs (1AB) and (1AC). The explanatory note states that manufacturers or suppliers which have already paid 24.3% on relevant supplies during the first half of 2026 will not continue on the full 16.5% rate for the second half of the year. Instead, those businesses move to a reduced rate of 8.7% from 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2026. The purpose is to reflect the higher payments already made between January and June, so that the second-half charge accounts for the earlier rate rather than simply layering a full additional percentage on top.
This is not a patient charging measure and it does not alter what patients pay for medicines. It is a cost recovery mechanism inside the branded medicines statutory scheme, with payments flowing from in-scope manufacturers and suppliers to the Secretary of State. For companies inside the scheme, the effect is immediate and technical. Liability from 1 July 2026 turns on whether supplies fall within the newer or older presentation categories, and whether the company already made payments at the 24.3% rate during the first half of the calendar year.
For finance and compliance teams, the instrument creates a clear split-year calculation issue. Accruals for January to June 2026 cannot simply be rolled forward into the second half of the year, because a supplier that paid the higher 24.3% rate may instead move onto the special 8.7% rate rather than the standard 16.5% rate from July. That means reporting systems, internal forecasts and reconciliation processes will need to separate first-half and second-half 2026 supplies. The point is administrative rather than political: the regulations alter the payable percentages, not the basic architecture of the scheme.
The amendment also shows how frequently the 2018 regulations are being recalibrated. The footnotes to the instrument list prior changes in 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, underlining that the statutory scheme is subject to regular revision as ministers update payment percentages. The Department of Health and Social Care states that an impact assessment has been prepared and is available through legislation.gov.uk and the department. For the sector, the immediate date that matters is 1 July 2026: from that point, the headline newer presentation rate is 16.5%, but not every supplier will pay it, and those that already paid 24.3% in the first half of 2026 are directed to the reduced 8.7% rate instead.