GPDF (formerly General Practitioners Defence Fund) exists to raise income to support general practice representation, including partially funding LMC conferences and the Rebuild General Practice campaign, alongside commissioning research and legal advice. It is funded by a levy that is voluntarily collected from GP practices, alongside the statutory levy which funds LMCs.
More on the GPDF’s rationale (published prior to the board voting) for raising the voluntary levy from 3p per registered patient to 5p can be read here.
The GPDF’s summary of the AGM is as follows:
“We had a supportive and constructive AGM with presentations from me as Chair, our accountants and our investment advisers, as well as a presentation of the impact audit we commissioned to assess the effectiveness of the Deed of Grant with the BMA.
“All votes were passed, including agreeing to pay the discretionary element of the Deed of Grant (12.5% of the inflation uplifted total for 2026). Also passed was the agreement to increase the voluntary levy to 5p per patient from April 2026.
“We heard clear feedback from those present that the process around document dissemination for the AGM was less than perfect. As a board we take all feedback seriously and will be reviewing and improving this for our next general meeting. We also heard clear feedback from some LMCs of a desire to move toward a more contractual arrangement with the BMA in terms of what exactly we get from the funding held within the Deed of Grant, potentially incurring VAT. We will seek the opinion of all LMCs before making any decision regarding this due to significantly impacting on the negotiations for the next Deed which is due by December 2026, and ideally ahead of next year’s AGM.
“We would welcome feedback regarding the impact audit we commissioned. As a first iteration of an independent assessment we would like to hear from LMCs how helpful you found it.
“A final point of feedback heard was around a more open meeting with more chance to interface with the board. We are happy to facilitate this, but do need to complete certain legal requirements within our AGM as a company with shareholders. A face to face meeting would incur significant costs in both time and money. An online meeting with a more open format for part of it could be a compromise solution. Again, we will be considering this as a board and will endeavour to maintain the open, accountable and responsive atmosphere that we have been building for the last few years.
“We take the responsibility of stewarding LMC resources very seriously and want to do a great job for LMCs and, by extension, the GPs we all represent. We are working out a geographical split of LMCs so there will be a named director for each LMC as a first point of contact.”