Part I The General Dental Council
1 Constitution and general duties of the Council.
1
There shall continue to be a body corporate known as the General Dental Council (in this Act referred to as “the Council”).
F181ZA
The over-arching objective of the Council in exercising their functions under this Act is the protection of the public.
1ZB
The pursuit by the Council of their over-arching objective involves the pursuit of the following objectives—
a
to protect, promote and maintain the health, safety and well-being of the public;
b
to promote and maintain public confidence in the professions regulated under this Act; and
c
to promote and maintain proper professional standards and conduct for members of those professions.
F81A
When exercising their functions under this Act, the Council shall have proper regard for—
a
the interests of persons using or needing the services of registered dentists or registered dental care professionals in the United Kingdom; and
b
any differing interests of different categories of registered dentists or registered dental care professionals.
F42
The Council shall, when exercising their functions under this Act, have a general concern—
a
to promote high standards of education at all its stages in all aspects of dentistry; F19...
F19b
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2A
The Council shall be constituted as provided by order of the Privy Council.
F172B
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3
Part I of Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect in relation to the Council F1and, in particular, subsection (2A) above is subject to the provisions of that Part.
2 Committees of the Council.
F51
There shall continue to be committees of the Council known as—
a
the Professional Conduct Committee; and
b
the Health Committee.
2
There shall also be established committees of the Council to be known as—
a
the Investigating Committee;
b
the Professional Performance Committee;
c
the Interim Orders Committee; and
d
the Registration Appeals Committee.
3
In this Act, “Practice Committee” means the Professional Conduct Committee, the Health Committee or the Professional Performance Committee.
5
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F26
The committees of the Council mentioned in this section shall be constituted as provided by F15rules.
F166A
Rules made under subsection (6) may provide for the functions of a committee of the Council mentioned in this section to be exercised by one or more panels comprised of members of the committee and may make provision with regard to the constitution of the panels.
F147
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F148
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2AF3The Council’s duty to co-operate
1
In the exercise of their functions, the Council shall co-operate in so far as reasonably practicable with public authorities, and other bodies and persons, falling within subsection (2).
2
Public authorities, bodies and persons fall within this subsection if—
a
they are concerned with the employment (whether or not under a contract of service) of registered dentists or registered dental care professionals;
b
they provide, assess or fund education or training for those who are, or seek to become, registered dentists or registered dental care professionals, or they propose to do so;
c
they regulate services in the provision of which registered dentists or registered dental care professionals are engaged;
d
F11e
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3
In carrying out their duty to co-operate under subsection (1), the Council shall have regard to any differing considerations in relation to the practice of dentistry which apply in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
2BF12Annual reports, statistical reports and strategic plans
1
The Council shall publish, by such date in each year as the Privy Council shall specify—
a
a report on the exercise of their functions which includes a description of the arrangements that the Council have put in place to ensure that they adhere to good practice in relation to equality and diversity (and for these purposes “equality” and “diversity” have the meanings given in section 8(2) of the Equality Act 2006);
b
a statistical report which indicates the efficiency and effectiveness of, and which includes a description of, the arrangements which the Council have put in place to protect members of the public from persons who are registered dentists or registered dental care professionals and whose fitness to practise is impaired, together with the Council’s observations on the report; and
c
a strategic plan for the Council in respect of such number of years as the Council shall determine.
2
The Council shall submit copies of the reports and the plan published under subsection (1) to the Privy Council and the Privy Council shall lay copies of the reports and the plan before each House of Parliament and before the Scottish Parliament.
2CAccounts
1
The Council shall—
a
keep accounts, and
b
prepare a statement of accounts in respect of each calendar year,
in such form as the Privy Council may determine in writing.
2
The Council shall appoint an auditor to audit each statement of accounts prepared in accordance with subsection (1)(b), and the auditor must prepare a report on each statement of accounts.
3
The auditor appointed must be eligible for appointment as a F6statutory auditor under Part 42 of the Companies Act 2006 .
4
The Council shall, as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each calendar year—
a
publish the statement of accounts for that year, together with the auditor’s report on it; and
b
send a copy of the statement of accounts and the report to the F13Privy Council, the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Auditor General for Scotland.
5
The Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine, certify and report on each statement of accounts received under subsection (4) and for these purposes may inspect accounts kept by the Council in accordance with subsection (1)(a).
6
The Comptroller and Auditor General shall send a copy of each report prepared by him under subsection (5) to the Council and the Privy Council.
7
The Privy Council shall, as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each calendar year, lay before each House of Parliament and the Scottish Parliament a copy of—
a
the statement of accounts for that year as certified by the Comptroller and Auditor General;
b
the auditor’s report for that year; and
c
the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General for that year.
2DComplaints
1
The Council may incur expenditure for the purposes of investigating and resolving dental complaints.
2
In this section “dental complaints” means complaints made by users of the services of registered dentists or the services of registered dental care professionals about—
a
the dental services provided by a registered dentist, a registered dental care professional or a body corporate carrying on the business of dentistry; or
b
the goods or materials provided to persons, or the facilities provided for persons, using those dental services.
3
The Council may also incur expenditure for the purposes of assisting the parties to the dental complaint in reaching a satisfactory resolution of that complaint.
2EF7Registration of members’ private interests
1
The Council must establish and maintain a system for the declaration and registration of private interests of their members.
2
The Council must publish entries recorded in the register of members’ private interests.