<P> In an early July 2012 report, the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE), now known as the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA), critically examined the leadership of the Nursing and Midwifery Council . In late July 2012, a new chair for the NMC, Mark Addison, was appointed by the privy council, an appointment which was subject to criticism by the NMC Council, who described their "grave concern" with regard to what they claimed was a "lack of an open, transparent and equal opportunities process" in regards to the appointment . In contrast, the CHRE stated that they were pleased with the appointment of a new Chair, and that they would "look forward to working with Mark Addison". On 26 June 2015, the PSA reported in their performance review 2014--2015 report that the NMC had made overall improvements in their performance . </P> <P> In March 2013 the NMC was fined £ 150,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office after it admitted that personal data, including "highly sensitive" information about nurses and about vulnerable children, had been placed on DVD without being encrypted, sent by courier and then lost . The ICO said that "it should have been obvious...that such a contravention would be of a kind likely to cause substantial distress to the data subjects due to the nature of the data involved". </P> <P> The cost charged to remain registered on the NMC has increased from £ 76 per year in 2013, to £ 100 in 2014 . Since 2015 the registration fee is £ 120 . The annual registration fee to the NMC is an allowable expense for UK income tax, however a survey by the NMC discovered that more than 75 percent of NMC registrants do not claim tax relief on their registration . </P> <P> The council was criticised by Bill Kirkup for the way it handled the investigation resulting from events at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust relating to misconduct by two midwives involved in the Furness General Hospital scandal . He said their response to his report had "fallen far short of expectations". The Professional Standards Authority said the regulator's investigation was "deficient" because evidence was not presented to the panel by the council, even though it had it in its possession . </P>

When was the nmc code of conduct introduced