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2021-03-31-accounts

General Optical Council Annual Report, Annual Fitness to Practise Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

General Optical Council Annual Report, Annual Fitness to Practise Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

Registered as a charity by the Charity Commission in England and Wales (registered charity number 1150137)

Presented to Parliament pursuant to section 32A(2) of the Opticians Act 1989 as amended by schedule 2 paragraph 3 of the Health Care and Associated Professions (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2008

©Copyright 2021 General Optical Council

All rights reserved.

Any unauthorised commercial copying, hiring, lending or distributing is prohibited and without permission will constitute an infringement on copyright. Permission granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only.

If you have any questions about this document, please email communications@ optical.org or phone us on 020 7580 3898.

You can also read this report on our website at

www.optical.org/en/news_publications/publications/annual_reports_archive.cfm

Contents
Message from the Chair
Message from the Chief Executive
Introduction
Our Strategy and Performance
Performance Against our Strategic Objectives
Our Plans for 2020/2
Our Risks
Our People
Our Values
Our Structure, Governance and Management
Reference and Administrative Details
Our Fitness to Practise Report
Financial Review of the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities
Independent Auditor's Report to the Trustees of General Optical Counci
Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Balance Sheet for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Cash Flow Statement for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Notes to the Financial Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2021		 Contents
Message from the Chair
Message from the Chief Executive
Introduction
Our Strategy and Performance
Performance Against our Strategic Objectives
Our Plans for 2020/2
Our Risks
Our People
Our Values
Our Structure, Governance and Management
Reference and Administrative Details
Our Fitness to Practise Report
Financial Review of the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities
Independent Auditor's Report to the Trustees of General Optical Counci
Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Balance Sheet for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Cash Flow Statement for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Notes to the Financial Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2021		 Contents
Message from the Chair
Message from the Chief Executive
Introduction
Our Strategy and Performance
Performance Against our Strategic Objectives
Our Plans for 2020/2
Our Risks
Our People
Our Values
Our Structure, Governance and Management
Reference and Administrative Details
Our Fitness to Practise Report
Financial Review of the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities
Independent Auditor's Report to the Trustees of General Optical Counci
Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Balance Sheet for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Cash Flow Statement for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Notes to the Financial Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2021		 Contents
Message from the Chair
Message from the Chief Executive
Introduction
Our Strategy and Performance
Performance Against our Strategic Objectives
Our Plans for 2020/2
Our Risks
Our People
Our Values
Our Structure, Governance and Management
Reference and Administrative Details
Our Fitness to Practise Report
Financial Review of the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities
Independent Auditor's Report to the Trustees of General Optical Counci
Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Balance Sheet for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Cash Flow Statement for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Notes to the Financial Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2021		 Contents
Message from the Chair
Message from the Chief Executive
Introduction
Our Strategy and Performance
Performance Against our Strategic Objectives
Our Plans for 2020/2
Our Risks
Our People
Our Values
Our Structure, Governance and Management
Reference and Administrative Details
Our Fitness to Practise Report
Financial Review of the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities
Independent Auditor's Report to the Trustees of General Optical Counci
Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Balance Sheet for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Cash Flow Statement for the Year Ended 31 March 2021
Notes to the Financial Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2021		 1
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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

This is my first year as Chair and I am struck by the progress that has been made in relation to our strategic plan ‘Fit for the Future’ 2020-25 despite the pandemic and the disruption and additional workload it created. I commend our staff for their commitment and professionalism during such an unprecedented time and for their ongoing dedication to delivering an excellent service to our registrants and members of the public.

I also pay tribute to my predecessor Gareth Hadley OBE, who shepherded the GOC through the most part of this reporting year and laid the foundations for its success through his eight years as Chair. Among the most significant changes was the updating of our standards for professional education, both initially upon registration and subsequently for renewal of registration.

In 2020-21, we consulted stakeholders on our Education Strategic Review (ESR) and our Continuing Education and Training (CET) Review. Council took several seminal decisions in February, approving updated requirements for qualifications we approve in optometry and dispensing optics and a new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme, which together will ensure both optical students and professionals are able to meet the rapidly changing needs of patients.

Far from side-lining these reforms, COVID-19, and the fact that registrants are undertaking more clinical work because of changing commissioning models and care pathways, has emphasised their criticality. Other regulatory challenges and opportunities have arisen from the growth in online and remote provision and the GOC issued a series of COVID-19 statements throughout the year. I want to thank all our stakeholders who this year, more than ever, have been critical in providing us with their comments and perspectives, often in quick time as well as through formal consultations.

As we do every year, the GOC welcomed the Professional Standards Authority’s report on our performance for 2019/20 and I’m pleased to say that we met 16 of the 18 Standards of Good Regulation. Those we failed to meet will be a key focus for Council over the coming year, to ensure we fulfil our obligations to members of the public and our registrants across all of our regulatory functions.

During the Autumn of 2021 we will start our search for a new Chief Executive and Registrar as we say goodbye to our Chief Executive, Lesley Longstone. Lesley has been a driving force for improvement at the GOC and we thank her for visible leadership and commitment to public benefit. Lesley started with us as an interim Chief Executive with the intention of serving for just six months. Four years later we are so grateful she decided to stay, and I thank Lesley for her sustained and valued contribution to furthering GOC’s mission and purpose

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I look forward to the coming year as we address the issues ahead of us and continue our journey toward our vision of being recognised for delivering world-class regulation and excellent customer service.

Anne Wright CBE Chair

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MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE

– This year we said a fond farewell to our Chair of eight years Gareth Hadley, OBE and welcomed our new Chair Dr Anne Wright, CBE. In times such as these, the role of Council is critical and as Chief Executive I have benefitted hugely from their strategic direction, support and critical analysis as we have trod some unchartered territory together.

The COVID-19 pandemic has tested our agility as an organisation and brought into focus the importance of working collaboratively with the sector we regulate, always for the benefit of the public at large. During 2020/21 the degree of collaboration and engagement with registrants and their membership bodies was greater than ever, and never was it more critical. There will always be matters where we will take different approaches and have different interests to represent, but we have a common interest in keeping the public and our registrants safe.

This year we have focused on that common cause and nowhere has that been more true than in relation to our COVID-19 statements. We benefitted from real-time collaboration and input from sector bodies as the situation evolved and from carefully considered responses to our formal public consultation later in the year. I would like to extend my appreciation to all those who have supported us in ensuring that we have regulated appropriately during this time, removing regulatory barriers wherever possible, without compromising public safety.

Other developments this year include the adoption of our new education requirements following the Education Strategic Review (ESR). The requirements replace our current Quality Assurance Handbooks and will ensure the qualifications we approve equip learners with the skills, knowledge and experience they need to be safe and effective practitioners in a context where the commissioning of eye-care services is rapidly growing in all parts of the UK.

I would like to thank our Expert Advisory Groups (EAGs) and other stakeholders for all their support and input and recognise the fact that establishing the new requirements is only the beginning of the journey. As we move into the implementation phase, continued collaboration will be key to success and we look forward to working with a wide range of partners, old and new.

We consulted on a new CPD scheme for 2022-24, which will be more flexible and less prescriptive than the current CET scheme it replaces, allowing registrants greater freedom to undertake learning and development that is relevant to their own personal scope of practice.

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In Fitness to Practise (FtP) we were able to proceed with our first virtual nonsubstantive event within 24 hours of our office closing due to COVID-19 and we were able to commence our first substantive matter within a week, with continued public access. This was a very significant achievement and meant that we were able to avoid a backlog of hearings with all the distress that would cause for everyone involved.

Instead, we continued to prioritise our FtP Improvement Programme and saw significant reductions in the number of open investigations (28 per cent over the course of the year) brought about largely through our new acceptance criteria which ensures that only those cases serious enough to raise questions about an individual’s fitness to practise proceed to investigation. This year we also saw the launch of our first ‘FtP FOCUS’ lessons learned bulletin for registrants which has been very positively received.

I am indebted to Council and the staff of the GOC for their commitment to delivering our regulatory functions over this past year, operating in less-than-ideal circumstances but continuing nevertheless to prioritise the needs of the public, keeping them and our registrants safe.

At the end of 2021 I will step down from my role as Chief Executive. I will miss the strong friendships forged after four wonderful years and wish the GOC well over the forthcoming period.

Lesley Longstone CEO and Registrar

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INTRODUCTION

The trustees present their report on the activities we have undertaken over 2020/21 to fulfil our statutory role and charitable purpose, and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021. In preparing this report, the trustees have complied with the Charities Act 2011 and applicable accounting standards. The statements are in the format required by the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP 2019) FRS 102. We have complied with the guidance of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission in determining the activities we undertake.

We are the regulator for the optical professions in the UK. As of 31 March 2021, there were 32,428 optometrists, dispensing opticians, student opticians and optical businesses on our register, who are known as our 'registrants'. Our charitable purpose and statutory role is to protect and promote the health and safety of members of the public by promoting high standards of professional education, conduct and performance among optometrists and dispensing opticians and those training to be optometrists and dispensing opticians.

We have four core functions:

Most of our income comes from registrant fees and is used to further our charitable purpose. Table one sets out the annual fees that registrants are required to pay for entry or retention on our register. In 2020/21, we implemented an increase of £10 in fee levels for fully qualified registrants and corporate bodies joining or restoring to the register. Fees for students have remained the same for a number of years. In 2020/21 the standard fee was £360.

Table one: annual registrant fee

Fee levels 2020/21 2019/20 2018/19 2017/18 2016/17
Optometrists
Dispensing opticians
Corporate bodies
Students
Low income fee		 £360
£360
£360
£30
£260		 £350
£350
£350
£30
£250		 £340
£340
£340
£30
£240		 £330
£330
£330
£30
£230		 £320
£320
£320
£25
£220

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Table two shows a breakdown of registrants across the UK on 31 March 2021 and compares this with the previous two reporting years. We report separately on the diversity of our registrants and registrants subject to FtP investigations, the report is available on our website: EDI Performance Monitoring Report.

Table two: total number of registrants in each GOC category

31-3-21 % 31-3-20 % 31-3-19 %
Optometrist 16,267 50% 16,670 52% 16,039 51%
Dispensingoptician 7,190 22% 7,157 22% 7,032 22%
Student optometrist 4,640 14% 3,934 12% 3,761 12%
Student dispensing
optician		 1,383 4%
1,510 5% 1,753 6%
Business registrant 2,796 9% 2,847 9% 2,783 9%
TOTAL 32,276 100% 32,118 100% 31,368 100%

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OUR STRATEGY AND PERFORMANCE

Strategic objectives

Our priorities are organised under three overarching strategic objectives:

In 2020/21 we worked on five projects, grouped under our three strategic objectives.

World-class regulation

In February 2021 GOC Council approved updated requirements for GOC approved qualifications for optometrists and dispensing opticians. Our new requirements introduce several important changes to make sure optical professionals are equipped for their future roles and that qualifications we approve are fit for purpose. These changes include introducing a new outcomes-based approach to specifying the knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of a day-one registrant and which supports their continued development after registration, moving away from our previous numerical and competency-based method for setting requirements for GOC qualification approval. We have introduced a minimum Regulated Qualification

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Framework (RQF) level (or equivalent) for the qualifications we approve as well as new requirements for patient-facing learning and experience, inter-professional learning, teamwork and preparation for entry into the workplace.

Our new requirements will ensure the qualifications we approve in the future are responsive to a rapidly changing landscape in the commissioning of eye-care services and are fit for purpose in each of the devolved nations, as well as meeting increased expectations of the student community and their future employers.

Alongside consulting on broadscale changes to qualifications we approve in optometry and dispensing optics, we also consulted on proposed changes to our CET scheme to make sure that scheme continued to support our registrants’ learning and development needs and maintained the safety and quality of care patients receive. We’ve changed the name of the scheme from CET to CPD to better align with other healthcare regulators and signal the changes we are intending to make from 1 January 2022 – a flexible and less prescriptive scheme, allowing registrants greater freedom to undertake learning and development which is relevant to their own personal scope of practice. In 2021 we consulted on our proposals for new legislation to underpin the new CPD scheme, including a new requirement for dispensing opticians to carry out peer review. We’ve also removed the requirement for every CPD activity to be – approved by the GOC in advance we feel that it is more proportionate to move to a system of approving CPD providers to provide CPD, rather than approving every CPD activity, alongside introducing a system of audit to ensure quality.

• Legislative Reform

Over the past year, we engaged with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) regarding its plan to reform the healthcare regulators’ legislation, with the aim of allowing us to operate more efficiently and effectively. In addition, we continued to develop proposals for reform of our legislation beyond DHSC’s proposals. This included a public consultation on amendments to our CET Rules 2005, to support proposed changes to our CET scheme which we expect DHSC to update in late 2021. We also obtained emergency legislation to underpin our response to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that we could operate effectively in a remote environment and continue to hear fitness to practise cases in a timely manner. A new statutory instrument came into effect in December 2020.

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Transforming customer service

Behind the scenes we have upgraded our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, to allow for process improvements and efficiencies. This will also allow us to integrate digital services offered through our new MyGOC registrant portal. This will be launched in Winter 2021/Spring 2022 and will deliver a number of benefits and improvements for users including:

Continuous improvement

During the course of the year, we have worked with our suppliers to develop a new website. Unfortunately, there were technical issues that meant the launch in January 2021 had to be rolled back to allow us to fix issues that prevented users fully accessing the site and register. We continue to work to resolve these and plan a launch later this year. The new fully functioning site will have an improved, modern look and feel, will be optimised for mobile devices and meet accessibility standards. It will be user focused with up to date, relevant, organised content.

We also focused on the effective and efficient fulfilment of our regulatory, statutory and support functions, and on building our capacity and capability to ensure delivery of our strategic plan.

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PERFORMANCE AGAINST OUR STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

Education Strategic Review

In our ‘Fit for the Future’ strategic plan for 2020-25, we committed to delivering and implementing a strategic review of optical education and training to ensure that the qualifications we approve are fit for purpose, meet patient or service-user needs and ensure optical professionals have the expected level of knowledge, skills and behaviours and the confidence and capability to keep pace with changes to future roles, scopes of practice and service redesign across all four nations of the UK.

In February 2021 Council approved new, updated requirements for GOC approved qualifications for optometrists and dispensing opticians. Our new requirements replace our current Quality Assurance Handbooks and related policies for both professions and are organised in three sections:

Our new requirements ensure the qualifications we approve are responsive to a rapidly changing landscape in the commissioning of eye-care services and are fit for purpose in each of the devolved nations. This includes responding to changes in higher education, not least as a result of the COVID-19 emergency, as well as increased expectations of the student community and their future employers.

The new requirements replace our Quality Assurance Handbooks for optometry (2015) and dispensing opticians (2011), including the list of required core competencies, the numerical requirements for students’ practical experiences, education policies and guidance contained within the handbooks, and our policies on supervision and recognition of prior learning, which are published separately.

The requirements for qualification approval have been guided by research and consultation, and draw upon best practice from other regulators, professional and chartered bodies. We were also advised by two Expert Advisory Groups (EAGs), for optometrists and dispensing opticians, with input from the Quality Assurance Agency

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(QAA) and feedback from a range of stakeholder groups including our Education Visitors, our Advisory Panel (including Education and Standards Committees), the optical sector and sight-loss charities. You can read the EAG’s terms of reference on our website. We would like to thank EAG members who volunteered their time to consider all of the detailed feedback received as part of the consultation, along with additional commissioned work. We would also like to thank all stakeholders, the Advisory Panel and constituent committees for their careful review of the proposals.

In July 2020 we launched a 12-week public consultation seeking views on our proposals to update our requirements for GOC approved qualifications leading to registration as an optometrist or a dispensing optician. You can read more background, research and briefing papers on our website. Alongside our public consultation we commissioned four additional packages of work to further inform the fine-tuning of our proposals post-consultation by our two EAGs:

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experienced equality and diversity consultant with a range of clients across the public and private sectors.

We have also been active in the media, raising the profile of the Education Strategic Review and the opportunity to provide views through our consultation:

The Outcomes for Registration will be supplemented by a GOC commissioned sector-led, co-produced indicative document drafted by the sector in Autumn 2021, which will provide a greater level of detail for each profession to support providers as they develop new qualifications or adapt existing approved qualifications to meet these outcomes. The Outcomes will be reviewed and if necessary, updated by Council in light of the indicative document, most likely in early 2022.

Key changes to our requirements

Our new requirements introduce several important changes to make sure optical professionals are equipped for their future roles and that qualifications we approve are fit for purpose. These changes include:

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as professional judgement, patient-centred communication, management of risk and diagnostic, consultation and clinical practice skills.

Successful implementation of the new education and training requirements will depend on a number of factors, in particular recognising the importance of a collaborative approach in finding solutions to support the providers as they begin to adapt their existing approved programmes to meet the new requirements. Following Council approval in February 2021, GOC met with sector professional bodies and discussed the launch of a sector-led steering group, providing leadership to the optical sector to coordinate and prioritise workstreams to ensure the most advantageous external operating environment for providers and potential providers of GOC-approved qualifications. The sector-led group will work closely with the GOC-commissioned Knowledge Hub, the GOC’s Technical Advisory Group and the GOC’s Education team, as well as the sector bodies representative on the group providing visible leadership on matters of common concern.

Contact lens and therapeutic prescribing qualifications

We also commenced work during 2020/21 to review the two post-registration qualifications GOC approves for specialist register entry: for dispensing opticians, contact lens qualifications and for optometrists, therapeutic (independent) prescribing qualifications. Our current requirements for these qualifications are published on our website. As part of our ESR we are working with two EAGs - one for therapeutic/Independent Prescribing and one for contact lens opticians - to update our education and training requirements for GOC approved qualifications for specialist

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entry to the GOC register as a Contact Lens Optician and in Additional Supply (AS), Supplementary Prescribing (SP) and/or Independent Prescribing (IP).

We anticipate consulting on our draft requirements in summer 2021, and once approved will replace our current Quality Assurance Handbooks and related policies for both specialty professions. Current drafts are organised in three sections:

The outcomes and standards for approved qualifications for specialist entry to the GOC register (AS, SP & IP) (CLO) once approved by GOC Council will replace our ‘Handbook for Optometry Specialist Registration in Therapeutic Prescribing’ published July 2008 and the ‘Competency Framework for Independent Prescribing’ published in 2011. The outcomes and standards for approved qualifications for specialist entry to the GOC register as a Contact Lens Optician replace our ‘Visit handbook guidelines for the approval of training institutions and providers of schemes for registration for United Kingdom trained Contact Lens Opticians’ published July 2007 and the ‘Contact Lens Speciality Core Competencies’ published in 2011. This includes the list of required core-competences, the numerical requirements for trainees’ practical experiences, education policies and guidance contained within the handbooks, and our policies on supervision and recognition of prior learning, which are published separately.

Together these documents will ensure the specialist post-registration qualifications we approve are responsive to a rapidly changing landscape in the delivery of eye-care

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services, fit for purpose in each of the devolved nations, and responds to the changing needs of patients and service users and enhanced roles for dispensing opticians within new models of service delivery, as well as increased expectations of trainees and their employers, and ensure that the qualifications we approve are fit for purpose.

These proposals are based on our analysis of key findings from our Call for Evidence, Concepts and Principles Consultation published in 2017-2018, feedback from our 2018-2019 consultation on proposals stemming from the ESR and associated research and 2021 public consultation. For more information, please see the GOC’s consultation hub.

Education approval and quality assurance (A&QA) function

This has been a challenging but successful year in which we adapted our ways of working in response to COVID-19 and continued to make improvements to our A&QA processes.

In response to the COVID-19 emergency we:

Despite the challenges this year, we continued to effectively manage and make improvements to our A&QA processes, including:

.

We did not grant provisional or full approval to any providers during this timeframe, and we did not withdraw approval from any providers.

Despite working remotely, we have continued to engage with stakeholders, including hosting a remote provider forum on 9 November 2020.

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We appointed 14 new EVPs and held a training day as part of their induction in February 2020, which received positive feedback.

Continuing Education and Training (CET) reform

Following previously reported development work, we sought stakeholder views on our proposals for reform via a 12-week consultation published in May 2020. We received 484 unique responses from a variety of stakeholders. Broad support was given for our proposals and the consultation report by our partners, Enventure Research, is available on our website. The data from that consultation shaped our final proposals, which included:

These proposals were supported by the GOC’s Advisory Panel in September 2020 and given approval by Council in November 2020. Since then, we have begun preparatory work in readiness for the reforms to take effect from the start of the next three-year CPD cycle in January 2022.

This preparatory work has included technical specification, design and understanding of user journeys and needs so that registrants and CPD providers are able to log

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content easily and efficiently on the GOC’s CPD recording portal, MyCET (which will become MyCPD following development work to overhaul).

We have also invested a great deal of effort into communications for this project, including ongoing individual liaison with key stakeholders and quarterly webinars for current CET providers to communicate change, answer live questions and collaborate on policy and process development, and this has resulted in our production of comprehensive guidance for future CPD providers. A detailed communications plan has been developed and is actively being implemented, with more in-depth registrant communications to begin from May 2021. We have also worked closely with the legislative reform project team on the changes to legislation needed to implement reform most effectively.

The reforms remain on track to be introduced at the start of the 2022-25 CPD cycle.

CET operations

Over the past year we undertook a number of activities to enhance our CET operations and assist registrants in meeting their requirements, especially in view of the COVID-19 restrictions and subsequent lockdowns. This included:

The review of registrants’ ratings when accepting points confirmed a satisfaction rating of more than 92 per cent from the top ten CET providers and over 90 per cent from all providers, which exceeded expectations.

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Legislative reform programme

Over the past year, we engaged with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) regarding its plan to reform the healthcare regulators’ legislation, with the aim of allowing us to operate more efficiently and effectively. We worked with the DHSC and collaboratively with other healthcare regulators to review proposals for reform around governance, education and training, registration and fitness to practise.

We continued to develop proposals for reform beyond DHSC’s proposals and, following the reforms that we will be making to our CET scheme (detailed under ‘CET review programme’), carried out a public consultation into amendments to our CET Rules 2005. Following closure of the consultation in January 2021, where there was broad support for the amendments, we have been in touch with DHSC to seek the legislative reform required to update our rules. We expect this to happen in late 2021.

We were invited by DHSC to apply for emergency legislation to underpin our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A new statutory instrument entitled The General Optical Council (Committee Constitution, Registration and Fitness to Practise) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Rules 2020 came into effect in December 2020, which had the effect of amending the GOC’s Committee Constitution Rules 2005, Registration Rules 2005 and Fitness to Practise Rules 2013. This can be found on the rules and regulations page of our website. This helped us to manage our response to the pandemic to ensure that we can operate effectively in a remote environment and continue to hear fitness to practise cases in a timely manner.

Standards and supporting guidance

During the COVID-19 emergency, we realised that some of our legislation and regulations may have prevented care being delivered effectively during a pandemic, particularly remote care, which was an important part of keeping infection rates low and reducing risk to patients. We were also being asked specific questions regarding how our standards and legislation applied to practice during the emergency. To help support registrants, we published a series of statements aimed at removing unnecessary regulatory barriers, clarifying certain areas of practice and bolstering the guidance we normally give on our standards for optometrists, dispensing opticians, students and optical businesses.

Due to the need to implement change quickly, we were only able to consult a small number of key stakeholders in the optical sector and healthcare commissioners prior to implementation. We therefore carried out a public consultation on our statements between October 2020 and January 2021. We commissioned Enventure Research to analyse the responses and the report is published on our website. We

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are currently in the process of producing a response to the report and updating our statements following consideration of the feedback. We published our response to the consultation on 28 May 2021 and taking into account the consultation we made updates to all of our statements, including aligning them to The College of Optometrists’ red-amber-green classification system so that it is clear in which phase(s) of the pandemic each statement applies. The revised set of statements - are available on the COVID 19 page of our website

Following a number of recommendations from recent healthcare inquiries, we were keen to play our part in making sure that everyone working in the optical sector is free and able to speak up about concerns they have. We created some draft guidance to make our expectations clear and give our registrants more confidence in speaking up when they need to. We consulted on Speaking Up guidance for registrants from December 2020 to March 2021. We are in the process of analysing the results of the consultation and aim to publish the guidance in the summer of 2022.

Research

We carried out public perceptions research in 2021, which sought to understand the public’s views and experiences of opticians across the UK. Over 2,000 members of the public responded to an online survey as part of the research. The research will be used to inform its work in transforming customer service and future policy and research activities. The full report is available on our website.

Over 2,000 members of the public responded to an online survey as part of the research. Some key findings include:

During the financial year we also commissioned a survey of our registrants to gain an up-to-date understanding of their views so that we could continue to support them in protecting patients and the public, particularly in light of the COVID-19

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pandemic. The survey closed in early April 2021 and we expect to publish a report by the end of June 2021.

How our performance is measured externally

Like all other healthcare regulators, our performance is assessed externally by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). The assessment focuses on whether we have met the PSA’s standards of good regulation, which describe the outcomes the PSA expects us to achieve through our regulatory functions.

In the most recent assessment for the period 1 October 2019 to 30 September 2020 we met 16 out of the 18 standards, including meeting all of the standards for our Education and Standards functions, as well as all of the general standards. The standards we did not meet related to maintaining and publishing an accurate register and our timeliness in fitness to practise cases.

With respect to maintaining and publishing an accurate register, the PSA noted that the issues were quickly addressed in each case with the appropriate course of action followed to correct the register and change our processes. We take this issue seriously and are taking on board the feedback to ensure that we are continuously improving, including completing additional checks following hearings and improving our IT systems. In addition, as part of their monthly performance review, the Senior Management Team (SMT) also assess quality assurance reports from the regular checks undertaken by the Registration and Hearings teams.

Our commitment to improve our FtP function is outlined within our strategic plan 20202025. This includes the modernisation of our casework processes including the development of an improved case management system to ensure that we progress investigations efficiently and effectively.

Fitness to Practise Quality Audit

We continue to receive a good level of assurance in respect of our FtP decisionmaking.

Our annual independent audit of decisions reviews mostly higher-risk decisions, for example cases closed by the Registrar (at triage stage), cases closed by case examiners and by the Investigation Committee (IC), and cases where the Fitness to Practise Committee (FtPC) takes no action, including decisions of the FtPC not to impose an interim order. The decisions of the case examiners, the IC and the Registrar are higher risk as matters are considered on documents alone, and there is no public hearing.

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The overall finding of our audit of 2018-19 decisions was that ‘the findings made in this audit demonstrate substantial compliance with the Council’s statutory obligations. They also demonstrate compliance with the Council’s own procedural requirements and guidance. We have identified a small number of cases where there were errors in decision making but we did not regard those as material.’

Information Technology

In 2020/21 we began implementation of our new IT Strategy. This included an upgrade to our Customer Relationship Management system and development of a new website and register, which was launched in January 2021. Unfortunately, there were technical issues with the site, meaning it had to be rolled back. The new website will re-launch towards the end of 2021 and will be followed by a new MyGOC registrant portal later in the year. This will provide enhanced on-line registrant access to a wider range of services. The new website improves accessibility for those with a sight impairment. Continued investment in cyber security and our IT infrastructure will provide operational improvements for staff and better services to registrants and the public.

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OUR PLANS FOR 2021/22

This year, 2021/22, continues to be an unprecedented time for the optical professions.

Responding to the COVID-19 emergency has been at the forefront of our work over the past 12 months and inevitably this has resulted in our need to be more agile by accelerating some aspects of our strategy and delaying others.

We will need to continue to adapt to emerging regulatory issues brought about by the pandemic, as they impact on patients, members of the public and registrants. That will continue to be a high priority, but we must also deliver our operational functions to fulfil our statutory obligations and in doing so, protect the public.

Council will continue to review our five-year strategic plan ‘Fit for the Future’ in light of COVID-19 during the year.

We will take forward implementation of our education reforms, flowing from theESR , working closely with our education providers and other stakeholders. As we come toward the close of the final CET cycle, we will also be preparing for the implementation of a new CPD scheme from 2022.

Our recent success in reducing the FtP caseload has been driven by focussing on the right cases and dealing with those cases more appropriately. Over the course of the coming year, we expect that to translate into improved timescales enabling us to invest resource in activities that prevent things from going wrong in the first place.

We will also launch a new communications strategy underpinned by a modern and refreshed GOC website.

Finally, we will continue to put GOC values, our public duty to progress equality, diversity and inclusion, and our published commitment to become an anti-racist organisation at the heart of all we do. This is discussed further in the ‘Our People’ section.

We detail below the projects we have planned for 2021/22 in order to deliver our three strategic objectives.

Project Objectives,outcomes andplanned activity
ESR •Work with providers of GOC approved
qualifications and other stakeholders to
implement updated education and training
requirements for GOC approved
qualifications leading to entry to the register
as anoptometrist ora dispensing optician.

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Project Objectives,outcomes andplanned activity
• Commission and launch the ‘Knowledge
Hub/ Information Exchange’to support co-
operation and collaboration between
providers of GOC-approved qualifications as
they begin to adapt existing approved
qualifications to meet the new requirements
or develop new qualifications for GOC
approval. The Knowledge Hub / Information
Exchange’s first project will be to draft the
GOC-commissioned, sector-led indicative
document to support the clinical practice
section of the outcomes.
•Support the sector achieve the most
advantageous external operating conditions
for providers of GOC-approved qualifications
as they begin to adapt existing approved
qualification to meet the new requirements or
develop new qualifications for GOC approval
through support and chairing of a Sector
Strategic Implementation Steering Group and
related workstreams.
•Scope, develop the brief and commission
longitudinal-cohort-based study to measure
the change we want to see.
•Complete preparation, consultation and
finalisation of proposals for updating
education and training requirements for
specialist entry to the GOC register in either
the CLO orAS,SP and/or IP categories.
CPD Scheme Continue to prepare for and implement the planned
transition to our new CPD scheme for the start of the
new three-year cycle from 1 January 2022, freeing
up the system to ensure the new scheme operates
effectively and registrants are safe to practise and
encouraged to focus on CPD.
Legislative reform Continue to engage with Government and other
healthcare regulators on reform of our governing
legislation to help us operate more efficiently and
effectively. In 2021/22, we will respond to the
Government consultation, plan for implementation
and work with the other healthcare regulators to
develop model rules. We will engage with DHSC
over their independent reviews of the number of
regulators and the professions that are currently
regulated. We will also explore other areas of
legislation that are not covered by DHSC-led
reforms.

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Project Objectives,outcomes andplanned activity
IT strategy In 2021/22 we will continue to implement our IT
Strategy including the new MyGOC registrant portal
and website allowing greater online registrant access
to services. The new website
will improve
accessibility for those with a sight impairment and we
will continue the work we have begun to capture
more and better data on a wider range of protected
characteristics to help inform and shape our
regulatory work. Investment in cyber security and our
IT
infrastructure
will
provide
operational
improvements for staff and lay the building blocks for
improved services to customers.
GOC refresh In 2021/22 we will be implementing a new internal
business structure intended to make the GOC a truly
‘future-ready’ organisation with a greater focus on
evolving our regulatory strategy, improving registrant
experience and being resilient and agile, allowing us
to continuously evolve, particularly in the face of the
pandemic and anticipated changes in the regulatory
landscape.
Communications strategy In 2020, we developed a new communications and
engagement strategy to help us deliver our ‘Fit for
the Future’ strategic plan (2020-25). In 2021/22, we
will continue to deliver the new strategy in line with
the objectives outlined within it.
We will:
•
Proactively communicate our role, the work we
do and its impact.
•
Deliver effective and coordinated
communications to promote our core regulatory
work.
•
Invest in understanding our audiences and their
needs so that we can tailor our communication
and engagement.
•
Increase confidence and customer satisfaction
to build our reputation with the public and across
the optical sector.
•
Build a highly skilled and
knowledgeable Communications function and
embed high standards of communications and
engagement across the organisation.
•
Increase engagement with internal stakeholders
by sharing our work and actively supporting
a culture of continuous improvement.

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OUR RISKS

Our approach to risk management is set out in our risk management policy. We consider that an effective risk management strategy and policy is fundamental to the achievement of all the GOC's strategic objectives and is an essential part of good governance.

Both Council and the Audit, Risk and Finance Committee discuss and review the principal risks and uncertainties regularly throughout the year. The SMT regularly monitors existing and emerging risks and identifies mitigating actions. We capture and monitor operational risks through our corporate, directorate and departmental risk registers.

We continue to maintain robust systems and procedures to mitigate the risk of failure to deliver our statutory functions, which are at the heart of protecting the public. This includes, for example, attention to the following risks:

Horizon scanning and being alert to emerging operational and strategic risks are part of ongoing business oversight. This is important because some of our key risks come from the external environment, which means we must work with stakeholders to understand the risks and identify the actions we can take to manage them.

Risks associated with the COVID-19 emergency, failure to achieve FtP end to end timescale improvements and the impact on Healthcare Regulators from the Department of Health and Social Care’s consultation on “Regulating healthcare professionals, protecting the public”, are amongst our primary considerations and will remain important over the next year. As noted last year, the long-term implications of COVID-19 for the optical sector and related education institutions may also give rise to new risks, which continue to be carefully monitored.

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OUR PEOPLE

We continue to monitor staff engagement through an annual staff satisfaction survey conducted each autumn by an independent consultancy. After several years of declining scores, we saw a dramatic turnaround in this survey. For 2020-21 the overall engagement score jumped from 32 per cent to 50 per cent and those disengaged dropped from 15 per cent to just 4 per cent. Overall staff engagement draws on answers to a number of questions to produce a single measure (LEVI: Leadership, Engagement, Voice and Integrity). Comparing the results to the benchmark data for the public sector, shows responses equal to or better than benchmark in 42 of the 45 areas measured. Full feedback has been shared with staff and an updated Staff Engagement Plan is being rolled out to build on the good work done in the past year.

We continue to review and if possible, improve the range of benefits staff have access to. The staff survey reports 58 per cent of staff are happy with their benefits package, but there was ongoing dissatisfaction with the appraisal, pay and reward framework.

The Staff Wellbeing and Engagement Group continues to go from strength to strength and has now taken the lead on staff wellbeing also, one of the areas of concern highlighted in the survey.

In the last 12 months EDI has become a core part of everything we do. We developed and published our commitment to being an anti-racist organisation, ran three all-staff sessions on Black Lives Matter facilitated by Rob Neill, OBE and appointed a full time EDI lead for the organisation, pulling together the various strands of activity. We rolled out all staff training on Bias and Behaviours, alongside training for all managers on Inclusive Leadership and Management and agreed a follow up schedule with the training provider to ensure that this becomes embedded in our work going forwards.

Our dynamic staff networks have run several awareness events covering Black History, Women’s History, Disability History and LGBT+ History. These have included external speakers, quizzes, articles, drop-in sessions, time to talk sessions and a charity fund raiser. Four volunteers came forward to run a ‘Fit for Winter’ campaign designed to help our staff’s mental health through the winter. This focussed on mental health, healthy eating, physical wellbeing and mindfulness.

Regarding mental health, 20 per cent of our staff are now fully trained Mental Health First Aiders and we will shortly be rolling out further mental health training for staff and managers. Finally, since you cannot improve what you cannot measure, we overhauled the EDI data that we collect from staff.

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SECTION ONE: HOW WE DELIVER PUBLIC BENEFIT

The health and safety of those that work for us is of paramount importance. We are pleased to report that we had no major health and safety incidents reported during the year.

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Our values

Our values are:

The development activity around our values and behaviours continued. We rolled out a 360-degree feedback mechanism to all our Leadership Team, based on their perceived fit with our new values. 170 reviews from peers, managers, subordinates, and external stakeholders were combined and fed back to the eighteen members of the Leadership Team (LT).

We continued to implement our staff engagement plan, developed in response to our 2019/20 staff survey, and we initiated significant work on EDI and reviews of policies and communications from which we introduced a new form of temperature check on staff engagement.

The new staff pulse survey evidenced that staff appreciated the communications and support received during the continuing pandemic.

HR completed an all-staff consultation exercise to develop and agree the behaviours attached to our sixth value, “We are agile and responsive to change”, and ran a number of all-staff HR Surgeries addressing a variety of topical subjects including making the most of the staff benefits package.

Our EmbRace staff network led an all staff meeting to discuss the issues raised by the Black Lives Matter campaign, which was extremely well attended. We heard some very personal and powerful stories about the experience of some of our black staff and want to use that as a catalyst for making real change within our own organisation, for our registrants and members of the public.

Our HR team have also delivered a workshop for managers and staff on Inclusive Leadership and Management. This was an action that formed part of our staff engagement plan and was well received.

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OUR STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Our legislation and our governance regulations

We are constituted as a body corporate under the Opticians Act 1989, as updated by amending legislation which came into effect on 30 June 2005. We are also registered as a charity by the Charity Commission in England and Wales (registered charity number 1150137). We are accountable to Parliament through the Privy Council, to the Charity Commission and to our beneficiaries. We aim to be transparent in the work we undertake and how our work delivers public benefit, including through this annual report.

Our Council

Our Council is the governing body of the GOC, and Council members are the charity trustees. They are collectively responsible for directing the affairs of the GOC, ensuring that it is solvent, well-run, and delivers public benefit. All Council members share the same duty of public protection and oversee the full range of regulatory processes.

The primary functions of Council are:

Our Council is comprised of 12 members, of whom six are registrants and six are lay members (see page 28). Members are drawn from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Biographies can be viewed on our website One Council member is appointed as a Senior Council Member (SCM) to carry out the Chair's review, provide a sounding board for the Chair and serve as an intermediary for Council members, the Executive and stakeholders as necessary. Helen Tilley fulfilled this role throughout the reporting year. Gareth Hadley fulfilled the role of Chair throughout the reporting year until 17 February 2021. Dr Anne Wright CBE took over as Chair

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on 18 February 2021.

Tim Parkinson was appointed to Council at the beginning of the financial year in April 2020.

Effectiveness of governance

We believe that effective and robust governance ensures probity in the decisions we make and serves to increase confidence in our work. Council conducts its business in accordance with the seven principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership.

This year we undertook the following activities to further enhance the effectiveness of our governance:

Council evaluation

In February 2021, Council reviewed its compliance with the Charity Good Governance Code which has seven main principles. Each principle, as set out within the code, had been evidenced with explanations provided on organisational purpose, leadership, integrity, decision making, risk and control, Board effectiveness and openness and accountability. The results of the evaluation were very positive evidencing good practice across governance generally and supporting our priority of continued improvements in relation toEDI.

Induction, review and development

All Council and committee members are inducted, developed and reviewed in accordance with our published policies. We hold routine induction sessions for newly appointed members, as an opportunity for members to meet each other and understand our challenges and priorities. Council members' individual performance is reviewed annually and, in general, committee members biennially. Reviews are used to support any recommendation for reappointment and identification of development requirements. The member development plan is designed to

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supplement areas of skills and knowledge that have been identified by members.

Members' conduct

Council (in their role as members and trustees) and committee members have a duty to act impartially and objectively and to take steps to avoid putting themselves in a position where their personal interests conflict with their duty to act in the interests of the charity, unless they are authorised to do so, and take steps to avoid any conflict of interest arising as a result of their membership of, or association with, other organisations or individuals. To make this fully transparent, we publish a register of ' members interests on our website.

Fees

Member Fees were agreed from 1 April 2020, in line with the Member Fees policy.

Our Members Fees policy is reviewed and benchmarked each year. In March 2021 this annual review took place which resulted in no fee rises. Member fees have not been increased for the last three years.

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SECTION ONE: HOW WE DELIVER PUBLIC BENEFIT Fees and Expenses

Fees and Expenses
Registrant or Lay
Member		 Home
Location		 Fees
£		 Expenses
£*		 Council
Meeting
Attendance**		 Committee & Advisory Panel
Meeting1
Attendance
Gareth Hadley (Chair) Lay (Chair) England 52,190 1,064 8/8 Nom 3/4, Rem 1/1
Dr Anne Wright CBE
(Chair) Lay (Chair) England 6,484 nil 1/8*** Nom 1/4
Sinead Burnsi Lay N. Ireland 13,962 nil 8/8 ARC 5/6, AP 1/2
Josie Forte Registrant England 13,962 nil 8/8 AP 1/2
Mike Galvin Lay England 15,591**** nil 8/8 ARC 6/6, AP 2/2
Rosie Glazebrook Lay England 13,962 nil 8/8 Nom 4/4, AP 2/2
Scott Mackie Registrant Scotland 16,754**** nil 8/8
Clare Minchington Lay England 13,962 nil 8/8 ARC 6/6
David Parkins Registrant England 13,962 nil 8/8 ARC 6/6
Roshni Samra Registrant England 13,962 nil 8/8
Helen Tilley Registrant Wales 17,073 316 8/8 Rem 1/1,
Glenn Tomison Registrant England 13,962 nil 8/8 Nom 4/4, AP 2/2
Tim Parkinson Lay England 13,387 nil 8/8 Rem 1/1

Key:

Committees: ARC - Audit, Risk and Finance, Nom - Nominations, Rem - Remuneration. Panel: AP – Advisory Panel

**All Council members are required to take part in other events such as strategy days, evaluations and performance appraisals, for which they receive no additional remuneration and which are not included in the attendance figures.

*** Attended as observer as part of induction process.

**** Fees including VAT

1 The Advisory Panel meeting merged the following committees: Companies, Education, Registration and Standards.

SECTION ONE: HOW WE DELIVER PUBLIC BENEFIT

Attendance

The attendance record of Council members at Council and committee meetings and the fees and expenses of Council members are shown on page 32. During 2020/2021 there were eight Council meetings (made up of four Public and four Strictly Confidential), 13 committee meetings and the Advisory Panel met twice. Council considers it has met sufficiently regularly to discharge its duties effectively and is committed to conducting its business in public; business is usually transacted in private only if it is commercially or legally sensitive, a preliminary discussion on development of strategy or policy, or if the matter being discussed concerns an individual or specific group.

All Council members are required to take part in other activities such as induction, development sessions, strategy, corporate performance and evaluation. All members are required to engage in their own performance review.

Scheme of delegation

Our scheme of delegation sets out those functions retained by Council, delegated to a committee, or delegated to the Chief Executive and Registrar. Council is able to delegate any of its functions with the exception of approving rules.

The Executive

Our Chief Executive and Registrar, Lesley Longstone, is responsible for the Executive, which is structured into four interlinked directorates and a Secretariat function. Decision-making powers are delegated to the Chief Executive and Registrar under the Opticians Act 1989 and other powers are delegated from Council. To exercise these powers, some are delegated to other members of the Executive.

The Director of Casework and Resolution, Dionne Spence, has responsibility for three functions: Case progression (including contract management of the Optical Consumer Complaints Service), Hearings and Legal.

The Interim Director of Strategy, Marcus Dye, has responsibility for three functions: Standards, Policy and Research, and Communications.

The Interim Director of Resources, Yeslin Gearty, has responsibility for five functions: Registration, Human Resources, Facilities, Finance andIT.

The Director of Education, Leonie Milliner, has responsibility for three functions: Education operations, and ESR and CET teams.

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The Head of Secretariat, Erica Wilkinson, has responsibility for five functions: Governance, Compliance, Information Governance, EDI and business planning and performance.

Our governance structure

Our governance structure consists of three non-statutory committees and four statutory advisory committees (Education, Standards, Registration and Companies) that meet collectively as an advisory panel.

Our structure is illustrated in the diagram below.

----- Start of picture text -----
Council
Audit & Risk Remuneration Investment Nominations Advisory
Committee Committee Committee * Committee Panel
----- End of picture text -----

In order to exercise its powers, Council delegates certain responsibilities to committees with clearly defined authority and terms of reference.

The committees and Advisory Panel are a valuable source of stakeholder input, alongside views obtained from research, public consultation and other engagement in shaping Council's thinking and decision-making.

Audit, Finance and Risk Committee

The Committee scrutinises financial reports prior to their presentation to Council, advises and provides assurance to Council on audit, risk and some aspects of governance, and takes some decisions as delegated by Council. In addition to the Council members on the Committee, Helen Dearden is appointed as an independent member and she attended all meetings during the year. The role of the independent member is to provide the Committee with independent, objective and impartial advice and judgement on audit, risk, governance and charity governance matters. The Chair (Clare Minchington) satisfies the provision under the UK Corporate Governance Code that at least one member of the Committee has relevant financial experience.

The Committee undertook the following work during 2020/2021:

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The Committee also held a development day in November 2020.

Remuneration Committee

The Committee advises Council on the payment of Council and Committee member fees, the Chief Executive and Registrar and Director remuneration, processes to determine executive remuneration, reward and performance management, and takes some delegated decisions. In addition to the Council members on the Committee, Helen Dearden is appointed as an independent member and she attended three of the four meetings during the year. The independent member acts as an independent advisor on remuneration issues.

The Committee undertook the following work during 2020/21:

Nominations Committee

The Committee advises Council and takes some delegated decisions in areas of appointment, reappointment, appraisal, evaluation, induction and development of members. In addition to the Council members on the Committee, Chris Dearsley is appointed as an independent member and attended all meetings during the year. The independent member provides independent, objective and impartial advice and judgement. In addition, the independent member acts as an independent assessor for appointment and reappointment processes and participates in the appraisal of our

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Hearings Panel Chairs and the IC Chair.

The Committee undertook the following work during 2020/2021:

Advisory Panel

The Advisory Panel is a combined meeting of all the GOC’s statutory advisory committees: Standards, Education, Companies and Registration. Its purpose is to give advice and assistance to the Chief Executive and Registrar and to Council (whether or not in response to a request from them), specifically including matters which would be addressed by each of the statutory advisory committees as defined under their terms of reference.

The Advisory Panel will also help to identify what task and finish groups might be necessary and suggest other appropriate members.

The Advisory Panel met twice during the year and were asked to advise and note the following workstreams:

29 September 2020 •COVID-19 Update
•Strategic plan update
•ESR (Workstreams, key proposals, EAGs)
•CET Review (proposals following public consultation)
•Speaking U Guidance
•Consultation on COVID-19 Statements
•Introducing Lifetime Registration Numbers
•Communications strategy
25 January 2021 •ESR (Proposals to update requirements for GOC
approved qualifications and Progress of EAGs for
CLOs and Therapeutic Independent Prescribing
Qualifications)
•How are practices working under COVID-19

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REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

The GOC is the statutory regulator for the optical professions in the UK and is constituted as a body corporate under the Opticians Act 1989, as updated by its section 60 amending legislation which came into effect on 30 June 2005. On 12 December 2012, the GOC was registered as a charity by the Charity Commission in England and Wales (registered charity number 1150137).

GOC registered office at 10 Old Bailey, London, EC4M 7NG operational address

Bankers Lloyds Banking Group (incorporating Bank of Scotland) 4th Floor, 25 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7HN

Internal TIAA Ltd (from 31 March 2020) auditors Artillery House, Fort Fareham, Newgate Lane, Fareham, PO14 1AH External Haysmacintyre LLP auditors 10 Queen Street Place, London, EC4R 1AG

Investment Brewin Dolphin Limited Advisors 12 Smithfield Street, London, ECIA 9BD

Council Anne Wright (appointed 19 February 2021 to 18 February 2025) (Chair) Gareth Hadley (reappointed 19 February 2017 to 18 February 2021) (Chair) Sinead Burns (reappointed 1 October 2020 until 30 September 2024) Josie Forte (appointed 1 April 2017 until 31 March 2021) Mike Galvin (appointed 1 April 2017 until 31 March 2021) Rosie (reappointed 1 January 2019 until 31 December Glazebrook 2022) Scott Mackie (reappointed 1 April 2017 until 31 March 2021) Clare (appointed 1 April 2017 until 31 March 2021) Minchington David Parkins (reappointed 15 March 2020 until 14 March 2024) Roshni Samra (appointed 1 April 2017 until 31 March 2021) Helen Tilley (reappointed 1 May 2017 until 30 April 2021) Glenn Tomison (reappointed 1 January 2019 until 31 December 2022) Tim Parkinson (appointed 16 April 2020 until 15 April 2024)

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Senior Management Team

Lesley Longstone Chief Executive & Registrar Marcus Dye Interim Director of Strategy Yeslin Gearty Interim Director of Resources Leonie Milliner Director of Education Dionne Spence Director of Casework and Resolution

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SECTION TWO: OUR FITNESS TO PRACTISE REPORT

Our Fitness to Practise Annual Report

Introduction

In order to meet our statutory function and our overarching objective to protect the public, we investigate and act where a registrant's fitness to practise, train or carry on business is alleged to be impaired.

We recognise all professionals may make errors of judgement during the course of their practice and our FtP process is designed to assess whether that mistake, conduct or behaviour could reoccur, or is so serious that we ought to take action to place restrictions on a registrant's registration.

A concern that a registrant may not be fit to practise can be as a result of one or more different factors including:

We undertake an initial assessment of all concerns raised, to determine whether the matters constitute an allegation of impaired fitness to practise and relate to a registered individual or business. Complaints that do not meet these criteria may be referred elsewhere (for example, to the OCCS).

For complaints that meet these criteria, we conduct an investigation to gather relevant information. We keep the referrer informed and provide the registrant with an opportunity to offer a full response to the allegations, before our case examiners (or theIC) determine whether the matter should proceed to a full hearing.

Highlights

Starting the year in the midst of a global pandemic presented some very specific – challenges to our FtP function triage and case progression teams suddenly working in isolation, from home, and hearings moving to a never previously used virtual platform, and all alongside a clear and unequivocal commitment to ensure the least damage to our public protection function.

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SECTION TWO: OUR FITNESS TO PRACTISE REPORT

With the support of our defence stakeholder group and the commitment of ourFtPC, we were able to proceed with our first virtual non-substantive event within 24 hours of the office closure and we were able to commence our first substantive matter within a week, with public access, and have ended the year having scheduled 50 substantive events against 56 the previous year and concluding 40 against 42 – an incredible achievement during these unprecedented times.

Over the last year we have continued to prioritise the elements of our improvement – programme that focus on the new challenges being faced ensuring that the lessons learned from fitness to practise continue to support improved practice and a reduction in incoming concerns that raise regulatory concerns.

Perhaps surprisingly, given the impact that the pandemic had on the sector, we saw a very slight eight percent reduction in the number of concerns raised with us – 314 this year, against 342 the previous year. Having embedded our revised Acceptance Criteria and enhanced triage process we have sustained the outputs seen in the first year of the pilot with 36.3 per cent of complaints being formally opened for further investigation (39 per cent in 2019-2020).

As projected, our Triage open caseload has reduced by over 28 per cent over the last year and we have ended the year with an open median of three weeks (down by five – weeks), and a triage decision median of eight weeks three weeks quicker than the previous year. There has remained a very small number of cases that have taken a disproportionate amount of time, not helped by early difficulties in obtaining clinical records this year. Our longest triage decisions are still taking well over two years, and although linked to third-party investigations, we will need to reflect on our methodology with these types of referrals to ensure that reasonable progress can be made alongside linked investigations.

We are pleased to have further reduced the overall caseload in investigations (stage 2) by over 37 per cent, alongside a 60 per cent reduction in post case examiner referrals (stage 3) to theFtPC. For the first time we have far fewer cases waiting to be disclosed on registrants than we have scheduled for hearing.

Our biggest unmet objective this year has again been with reducing the time it is taking us to investigate concerns, both pre and post case examiner decision. Our previous, very successful, focus on reducing the volume of cases in the system has left us with a residual caseload of older, more complex, cases with a consequentially higher median age. It is frustrating that some of the early progress we were making in trying to significantly improve the pace of case progression has been impacted by delays linked to the pandemic and respective access to registrants and records, with the median time from date of receipt to case examiner decision increasing from 60 weeks to 74 weeks this year. For the investigation stage alone, the median age of open cases at year-end has increased by four per cent from 55 weeks to 57 weeks

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SECTION TWO: OUR FITNESS TO PRACTISE REPORT

(from date of receipt), but with a slight reduction at post case examiner stage, from 122 weeks to 121 weeks.

While not entirely unexpected for this year, it is disappointing to see the median time that we have taken to reach these critical decision points increase again, up 14 weeks from the time of receipt to case examiner decision, and up 21 weeks from date of – receipt to final Committee decision 141 weeks from 120, against an objective of 78 weeks. We recognise that, despite the challenges of the past year, this is not acceptable; however, there are some indicators of overall improvement.

This year we have reduced the number of open cases that are older than one year from the date of receipt by over 40 per cent, down from 152 to 90, and for those open over two years down by 46 per cent, from 79 to 43. What we have been able to achieve, despite the move to remote hearings, is a median time of 26 weeks to schedule a hearing once the matter has been disclosed.

Based on the cases that were already pending, we projected an end-to-end case progression median time of 130 weeks for this year which, without the small number of agreed adjournments to our hearings at the start of the pandemic, we would have achieved. As we start the new year, we acknowledge that it will be a significant challenge to improve our end-to-end median time, given the age profile of the cases currently being investigated.

We expected to sit for 300 hearing days this year and are pleased that in spite of the move to remote hearings, the pace with which we were able to accommodate this change means that we achieved just under 260 hearing days, 86 per cent against our target.

Our ‘effective case management’ pilot concluded this year with some notable successes. We sought to minimise the number of lost hearing days and to ensure that time estimates were revised, and any non-substantive matters resolved in advance of hearings. Our date utilisation increased from 85 to 95 per cent this year and despite a small number of hearings going part-heard towards the end of the year, we met our objective to increase the percentage of substantive events concluding within the time allocated, to 80 per cent.

During the year we attended two external remote events to continue with our commitment to sharing lessons from fitness to practise and were delighted with the launch of FtP Focus, our first registrant learning bulletin, which has been very positively received. Additionally, we created and delivered a free online CET webinar, attended by almost 300 attendees with free recorded access to many more.

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SECTION TWO: OUR FITNESS TO PRACTISE REPORT

Complaints received in 2020-2021

We received 314 referrals relating to the fitness to practise of our registrants, from which we opened 65 investigations. This reflects just an eight per cent reduction in the number of new referrals coming into our Triage team, but almost a 60 per cent – reduction in the proportion of full investigations opened 21 per cent this year, against 47[2] per cent and 59 per cent in the previous two years.

In respect of the number of concerns progressed to investigation, this constitutes only 0.2 per cent of our total registrant population and although this must be caveated with the very unusual circumstances of the past year, continues to demonstrate that the vast majority of our registrants are unlikely to be the subject of fitness to practise concerns. Aside from a reduction in the proportion of conviction cases referred to us this year, there was little variance in the type of complaints we received or which registrant category they were received about.

The GOC was the complainant in 20 percent of all concerns raised, with employers or former employers increasing their proportion by more than double. For the first time, we saw more registrant-on-registrant concerns being raised, which were all related to activities undertaken during the lockdown, see Table one.

Table one – types of complaints investigated over the last three years

Nature of Complaint 20-21 % 19-20 % 18-19 %
Clinical 25 39% 67 42% 125 47%
multiple clinical 16 25% 29 18% 17 6%
retinal detachment 4 6% 7 4% 17 6%
tumour 1 2% 0 0% 13 5%
glaucoma 3 5% 13 8% 10 4%
cataracts 0 0% 4 3% 9 3%
macular degeneration 0 0% 8 5% 4 2%
laser surgery 0 0% 0 0% 3 1%
other clinical 1 2% 6 4% 52 19%
Conduct 15 23% 32 20% 33 12%
personal conduct 13 20% 32 20% 28 10%
theft 1 2% 0 0% 3 1%
fraud 1 2% 0 0% 2 <1%
Mixed- clinical / conduct 5 8% 4 3% 16 6%
Conviction / Caution 5 8% 20 12% 39 15%
Business procedures / complaints 7 11% 16 10% 21 8%
Health 4 6% 7 4% 14 5%
Miscellaneous 4 6% 15 9% 21 8%
TOTAL 65 100% 161 100% 269 100%

2 Reported as 39 percent last year – now reconciled

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Table two – number of complaints opened against each GOC registrant category over the last three years

20-21 % 19-20 % 18-19 %
Optometrist 43 66% 120 75% 186 69%
Student Optometrist 4 6% 5 3% 18 7%
Dispensing Optician 8 12% 15 9% 25 9%
Student Dispensing Optician 4 6% 6 4% 8 3%
Business Registrant 6 9% 15 9% 32 12%
TOTAL 65 100% 161 100% 269 100%
total number of registrants 32,276 32,118 30,759
percentage subject to complaints 0.20% 0.50% 0.87%

Table three – the source of concerns received over the last three years.

Source of concern 20-21 % 19-20 % 18-19 %
patient or representative 19 29% 63 39% 146 54%
self-declaration 8 12% 29 18% 54 20%
GOC 13 20% 20 12% 23 9%
primary care organisation 4 6% 7 4% 11 4%
employer / former employer 11 17% 10 6% 8 3%
other 2 3% 14 9% 12 5%
professional / educational body 2 3% 3 2% 8 3%
Whistle blower 3 5% 7 4% 3 1%
police 0 0% 0 0% 1 <1%
anonymous 0 0% 7 4% 3 1%
counter-fraud services 0 0% 1 <1% 0 0%
other registrant(s) 3 5% 0 0% 0 0%
65 161 269

Our case examiners and IC made 176 decisions this year including some cases that may have been subject to more than one decision, for example, interim decisions and those cases that were subject to a review pursuant to Rules 15[3] and Rule 16[4] , of which there were 38 this year, an increase from 22 in 2019-2020.

This year, 55 per cent resulted in no further action, down from 63 per cent the year before - potentially reflective of the more serious nature of cases coming through.

Table four - decisions made by the case examiners or the Investigation Committee over the last three years

3 General Optical Council (Fitness to Practise) Rules Order of Council 2013 – the case examiners may review the decision not to refer an allegation to the FtPC

4 General Optical Council (Fitness to Practise) Rules Order of Council 2013 – the case examiners may review the decision to refer the allegation(s) to the FtPC

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Outcome 20-21 % 19-20 % 18-19 %
Substantive Outcomes
No further action 53 45% 135 54% 111 51%
No further action with advice 12 10% 22 9% 40 18%
warning 16 14% 37 15% 30 14%
Referral to FtPC 37 31% 56 22% 37 17%
Interim Outcomes
Further investigation required 8 N/A 6 N/A 21 N/A
Minded to issue a warning 9 N/A 42 N/A 49 N/A
Directed to aperformance review 0 N/A 0 N/A 0 N/A
Directed to a health assessment 0 N/A 2 N/A 4 N/A
Review Outcomes
Termination of referral to FtPC 30 N/A 20 N/A 12 N/A
Confirmation of referral to FtPC 7 N/A 5 N/A 3 N/A
Review of decision not to refer 4 N/A 12 N/A 5 N/A
Substantive decisions 118 100 250 218

– 31 per cent of concerns were referred by case examiners to the FtPC which, given the significant reduction in the number of less serious cases entering the investigation system was an expected increase on the 22 and 17 per cent over the past two years. We expect this proportion to continue to rise as the enhanced Triage process continues to filter out concerns that do not reach the regulatory threshold.

Interim orders

The GOC Registrar has the legal power to refer a matter directly to the FtPC for consideration whether to impose an interim order (IO) on the registrant's practice. Both case examiners and the IC also have the power to direct the Registrar to take this step. An IO is an immediate order, which is used where the FtPC is satisfied that it is:

In the period covered by this report, we applied for an interim order in six cases of which five were approved. This reflects a 50 per cent reduction in the number of applications made in the last year.

The time taken to impose an interim order, from the date where the need was identified, rose by one week this year to four weeks, still in line with our commitment to ensure that prompt action is taken in cases that present the most serious risk to the public. The time taken from receiving the initial complaint to obtaining an order rose to 25 weeks from 12 weeks the previous year. This was the result of our commitment to build

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a stronger prima facie case and seeking a clinical opinion prior to applying for an interim order and the improvement in our positive outcome indicates that this was worthwhile investment.

We continue to retain the management of IO applications/reviews in-house to ensure the close engagement of our case officers and to provide a more efficient service. The total number of applications for High Court extensions reduced from 20 to eight, and extensions were granted in all cases.

Fitness to Practise Committee (FtPC)

In reaching a decision, the FtPC considers whether it is necessary to take action to protect the public and whether taking action is necessary for the wider public interest: for example, in order to maintain public confidence in the professions or to declare and uphold proper standards of conduct and behaviour.

If the FtPC finds that the registrant's fitness to practise or to undertake training is currently impaired, one of the following outcomes is available to it:

Warning If the registrant's fitness to practise or undertake training is
considered not impaired, the FtPC can still warn the registrant about
their future behaviour or performance. A warning can be for varying
periods of time and will be appended to the registrant's online
registration
Payment of a financial
penalty		 Imposition of a financial penalty in conjunction with any other
directions that it has imposed, up to a maximum of £50,000.
Conditional registration The registrant can stay on the register provided they comply with
certain conditions such as doing extra training or being supervised.
Suspension from our
register		 The registrant's name is temporarily taken off the register and they
cannot undertake functions that are restricted by law to registered
optometrists or dispensing opticians or run a registered business in
the UK for a fixed period. If someone tries to work after being
suspended or erased they are committing a criminal offence.
Erasure of the
registrant's name from
our register		 The registrant's name is taken off the register and they cannot
undertake functions that are restricted by law to registered
optometrists or dispensing opticians or run a registered business in
the UK. If they want their name restored to the register, they must
go through a separate process which includes considering the
reasons for their removal and any remediation that may have taken
place. A registrant can apply for their name to be put back on the
register no earlier than 22 months following the date of erasure.

In 2020-2021 the FtPC considered 44 substantive hearings, resolving 40 during the reporting year, with four going part-heard into 2021-2022. There was a notable

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increase in the proportion of suspension orders issued this year which we will continue to monitor.

Table five shows the outcomes of cases determined by the FtPC over the last three years

Substantive hearings 20-21 % 19-20 % 18-19 %
erasure 7 18% 18 43% 9 21%
suspension 19 48% 7 17% 9 21%
conditional registration 3 8% 3 7% 1 2%
payment of a financial penalty 0 0% 0 0% 1 2%
warning 1 3% 1 2% 6 14%
no further action-no case to answer 10 25% 13 31% 16 38%
TOTAL 40 100% 42 100% 42 100%

The FtPC also considered 31 hearings on the papers over the past year, including 28 interim order reviews and three procedural hearings. Due to the amendments to our Rules, we were able to facilitate applications to adjourn hearings administratively, where this was agreed by both sides.

All substantive outcomes are published on our website for a period of 12 months, subject to an application by the registrant in determinations where no misconduct has been found. Older determinations are available on request.

Registration Appeal Committee (RAC)

In circumstances where a registrant is erased from the register, any application for restoration is heard by the RAC. The applicant cannot make an application until 22 months have passed since the order for erasure took effect, and the restoration hearing cannot take place until at least 24 months have passed. Prior to making the application, the applicant must have acquired the required number of CET points. This does not apply to optical students. There were no such applications during the year 2020-2021.

The RAC also considers appeals against decisions made by the Registrar not to allow registration. During 2020-2021, the RAC received one appeal against the Registrar's decisions that was upheld.

Professional Standards Authority (PSA) Section 29 referrals

The PSA has the discretion to refer a decision of the FtPC to the High Court when it considers that the decision of the Committee is insufficient for public protection.

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During 2020-2021 the PSA has referred one decision of the FtPC under this process, which is ongoing. We will reflect on any learning at its conclusion.

Audit

Each year, we commission an independent audit of the FtP decision making of the IC and FtPC, to demonstrate our compliance with the Professional Standards Authority’s (PSA) FtP standard 16. This requires that “‘The regulator ensures that all decisions are made in accordance with its processes, are proportionate, consistent and fair, take account of the statutory objectives, the regulator’s standards and the relevant case law and prioritise patient and service user safety.’”.

This year the audit was conducted by RadcliffesLeBrasseur, solicitors and auditors, the second to be completed by them following their successful bid for a three-year contract. The audit contains sections on the auditor's findings, compliance with previous recommendations and learning points. After the GOC management response was agreed, the audit report was submitted to our Audit and Risk Committee for their scrutiny before being presented to our Council in February 2021. The level of assurance given by the audit has also been shared with the PSA.

For the first time, we asked the auditor to include a small sample of decisions taken by the GOC Registrar at triage stage. This was one of the risk management mechanisms we committed to when we introduced Acceptance Criteria (AC) in November 2018. In future audits, as we have subsequently enhanced the AC, and introduced a new triage process, we will be increasing the sample of triage decisions included.

A total of 106 decisions were audited, and the audit report identified a small number of learning points, the vast majority of which we accepted and acted upon. In summary, the auditors concluded that: ‘ ‘We confirm that the findings made in this audit demonstrate substantial compliance with the Council’s statutory obligations. They also demonstrate compliance with the Council’s own procedural requirements and guidance. Whilst we have identified a number of cases where there were errors in decision making most were regarded as not having been material to the outcome. In a small number of cases we identified material errors and we detail those in this report.’ ’

With regard to the material issues identified by the auditor, we have taken action to review those cases and to refer them back to the decision-makers for review.

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OUR FINANCE REPORT

FINANCIAL REVIEW OF THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Section 32 (2) of the Opticians Act 1989 provides that ‘the accounts for each financial year of the Council shall be audited by auditors to be appointed by them and shall as soon as may be after they have been audited be published and laid before Parliament’. Council prepares an annual financial report which identifies its financial position and is submitted to the government for scrutiny.

The Audit, Risk and Finance Committee met five times this year, reviewed the systems of Council’s internal financial controls and received an annual report from the internal and external auditors. It also reviewed the financial performance, operational and compliance controls and risk management.

In 2020/21, financial performance for the year (measured by net income) was £3.1m surplus (2019/20 £1.5m deficit). Improvement of financial performance was partly due to changed working methods due to Covid restrictions. The year saw a rebound in the market value of investments of £1.9m, which is a marked change from the loss of value at the end of 2019/20, with news of the global spread of the COVID-19 virus. Income for the year was £9.8m (2019/20 £9.6m). £9.6m (2019/20 £9.3m) was related to annual renewal fees.

During the year we incurred £8.6m expenditure (2019/20 £10.3m). Expenditure reduced from the pre-Covid period, due to remote working practices, delays and efficiencies.

We continue to maintain a robust position in regards to cash resource and investments, so the trustees have a reasonable expectation that there are adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future as a going concern.

Reserves policy

Council is responsible for making judgments about the appropriate level of reserves for the organisation to hold. This is to ensure that there is a prudent level of reserves to provide for unexpected variations in spending or income patterns or to fund exceptional future spending. Council will review these reserves at least annually at the time of setting the budget for each financial year in consultation with the Chair of the Audit, Risk and Finance Committee.

The reserves policy was updated in November 2020 to align with the current five-year strategic plan, taking into account reduced legal costs in recent years, the new five-year financial forecast, and challenges to revenue due to COVID-19.

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All of our reserves are unrestricted and as of 31 March 2021, the total reserves were £8.6m (2019/20 £5.5m). Target range for non-designated funds in the new reserves policy is from £2.3m to £3.8m. As of 31 March 2021, total non-designated funds net of tangible fixed assets were £3.5m (2019/20 £0.1m).

The Council in setting the reserves policy has identified four designated reserves, legal cost reserve, strategic reserve, COVID-19 reserve, and infrastructure/dilapidation reserve. The legal cost reserve (£0.7m) is to mitigate risk of high-value complex cases arising over and above planned levels. The strategic reserve (£2.0m) supports the delivery of specific projects and initiatives outlined in the GOC’s strategic plans. The COVID-19 reserve (£0.9m) is a new contingency reserve to provide against risk of falling income due to the pandemic. The infrastructure/dilapidation reserve (£0.5m) is also a new reserve which is designed to build up funds to develop infrastructure should the GOC leave its current premises at the end of the lease period.

During the year, £371k was spent from the strategic reserve for strategic projects. The current strategic projects are the IT strategy, the ESR and the CET Review. The IT strategic project is a multi-year programme of work, the effects of which will bring longterm benefits to the organisation.

The reserves policy is reviewed every three years to enable us to manage financial risks and create capacity for long term strategic projects. We maintain reserves at an appropriate level according to the Charity Commission guidelines.

Investment policy

The Working Capital Policy recognises that all deposits must be secure, liquid and not exposed to currency risk.

The Investment Policy Statement recognises the additional needs of the GOC as it seeks to ensure that funds provide reasonable returns within acceptable risk profiles.

Trustees have wide powers of investment outlined in the Trustee Act 2000, which includes the power to delegate some responsibilities to an investment manager. We have appointed Brewin Dolphin as investment advisers to ensure we can make best use of the proceeds to meet our strategic aims and for future financial stability. The investment officer (Director of Resources) continues to manage the short-term cash reserve and liaise with the investment managers in respect of the investment strategy.

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STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees’ report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom accounting standards), including Financial Reporting Standard 102, the financial reporting standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the income and expenditure of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charity’s transactions, disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the charity’s constitution. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and the financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Each of the trustees, who held office at the date of approval of this trustees’ report, has confirmed that there is no information of which they are aware which is relevant to the audit but of which the auditor is unaware. They have further confirmed that they have taken appropriate steps to identify such relevant information and to establish that the auditors are made aware of such information.

Approved by the trustees on 22 September 2021, and signed on their behalf by

Dr Anne Wright CBE Chair, GOC

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF GENERAL OPTICAL COUNCIL

Independent auditor’s report to the trustees of General Optical Council

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of General Optical Council for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet and the Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder. We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

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Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 50, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

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Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Based on our understanding of the charity and the environment in which it operates, we identified that the principal risks of non-compliance with laws and regulations related to the Opticians Act 1989 and the Charities Act 2011, and we considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the financial statements. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the preparation of the financial statements such as the Charities Act 2011 and payroll tax.

We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including the risk of override of controls and determined that the principal risks were related to posting inappropriate journal entries to revenue and management bias in accounting estimates. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and regulations made under section 154 of that Act. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity’s trustees as a body for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

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Haysmacintyre LLP Statutory Auditors 10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG

Date: 09 November 2021

Haysmacintyre LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

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STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Notes Unrestricted Total Total
Funds 2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000 £'000
Income from:
Charitable activities 2 9,571
 9,571
 9,313
Investments 3 214
 214
 288
Total 9,785
 9,785
 9,601
Expenditure on:
Raising Funds 11 43
 43
 43
Charitable activities 5 8,550
 8,550
 10,224
Total resources expended 8,593
 8,593
 10,267
Net (losses) / gains on investments 11 1,896
 1,896 (827)
Net (expenditure) / income 3,088
 3,088 (1,493)
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward 5,539
 5,539
 7,032
Total funds carried forward 8,627
 8,627
 5,539

There are no recognised gains or loses other than those recognised above. All activities are continuing.

All the transactions in 2020-21 and 2019-20 were unrestricted.

The notes on pages 58 to 71 form part of these financial statements.

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BALANCE SHEET FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Notes 2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000
Fixed assets:
Tangible fixed assets 10 1,019 977
Investments 11 8,860 7,012
Total fixed assets 9,879 7,989
Current assets:
Debtors 12 537 442
Short term deposits 7,700 7,200
Cash at bank and in hand 660 468
Total current assets 8,897 8,110
Current liabilities:
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 13 (10,149) (10,560)
Net current assets (1,252) (2,450)
Total assets less current liabilities 8,627 5,539
Net assets 8,627 5,539
Represented by:
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds 15 4,100 4,469
General funds 15 4,527 1,070
Total funds 8,627 5,539

The notes on pages 58 to 71 form part of these financial statements.

The financial statements were approved and authorised by the Council on 22 September 2021 and were signed on its behalf by:

Dr Anne Wright CBE Chair, GOC

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CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000
Cash flows from operating activities:
Reconciliation of net (expenditure) / income to net cash flow
from operating activities:
Net income / expenditure for the reporting period (as per the
statement of financial activities)
 3,088 (1,493)
Depreciation
 137 152
Loss on disposal of fixed assets - 2
(Gains) / losses on investment income (1,896)
 827
Dividends, interest, and rents from investments (214) (288)
Decrease / (Increase) in debtors
 (95)
 216
Increase/ (decrease) in creditors (410)
 441
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
 610 (143)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest, and rents from investments
 214 288
Purchase of tangible fixed assets (180)
 (9)
Proceeds from sale of investments
 1,693 2,242
Movement in short term deposit account (more than three months) (500) (2,100)
Movement in Cash held in investment
 45 7
Purchase of Investments (1,690) (1,816)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (418) (1,388)
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period
 192 (1,531)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period
 468 1,999
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period
 660 468
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period
Cashat bankandin hand
 660 468

The notes on pages 58 to 71 form part of these financial statements.

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

The GOC is constituted as a body corporate under the Opticians Act 1989, as updated by amending legislation which came into effect on 30 June 2005. We are also registered as a charity by the Charity Commission in England and Wales (registered charity number 1150137). Our registered office is at 10 Old Bailey, London EC4M 7NG.

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The principle accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting and reporting by Charities SORP, applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102, effective 1 January 2019), Charities SORP FRS 102, and the Charities Act 2011.

We are required to submit the accounts to the Privy Council who lay them before Parliament.

The GOC meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

3. JUDGMENTS IN APPLYING ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND KEY SOURCES OF ESTIMATION UNCERTAINTY

Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Although these estimates are based on management’s best knowledge of the amount, events or actions, actual results may ultimately differ from those estimates. The trustees consider the following item to be an area subject to estimation and judgement.

Depreciation:

The useful economic lives of tangible fixed assets are based on management's judgement and experience. When management identifies that actual useful economic lives differ materially from the estimates used to calculate depreciation, that charge is adjusted retrospectively. As tangible fixed assets are not significant, variances between actual and estimated useful economic lives will not have a material impact on the operating results. Historically no changes have been required.

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(i) GOING CONCERN

The trustees (Council members) consider there are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern. With respect to the next reporting period, 2021/22, the most significant area of uncertainty relates to the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and the number of registrants, with associated financial implications for our fee income. The level of uncertainty is lower than last year because registrant renewal rates have broadly stayed on par with previous years. Ongoing volatility of the market value of investments also creates a risk. The review of our financial position, reserve levels and future plans gives Council members’ confidence that the charity remains a going concern. The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis.

(ii) INCOME

All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to income, it is probable that income will be received, and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

Our income mainly comprises fees from registered optometrists, dispensing opticians and bodies corporate. Fees charged for annual retention are payable in advance between January and March each year and are recognised in the period to which they relate.

We also receive registration fees from students, which are payable for the year or period ending 31 August in line with the academic year and credited in the accounts for the year to which they relate.

Investment income is recognised when interest or dividends fell due and is stated gross of recoverable tax.

Sales and other income are recognised when the related goods or services are provided.

(iii) EXPENDITURE

Resources are expended directly in pursuit and support of the charitable aims of the organisation. Expenditure on charitable activities comprises of FtP, legal compliance, registration and education and standards related cost. Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis as a liability is incurred.

Expenditure is allocated to a particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity is apportioned based on staff time attributable to each activity.

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Support costs include governance costs and other support costs. Governance costs include those incurred in the governance of the organisation and its assets and are primarily associated with constitutional and statutory requirements. Costs include direct costs of external audit, legal fees and other professional advice.

Support costs have been apportioned between all activities based on staff head counts. The allocation of support and governance costs is analysed in table six below.

Resources expended are included in the statement of financial activities on an accruals basis. All liabilities are recognised as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to expenditure.

(iv) FIXED ASSETS

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost, net of depreciation.

Expenditure is capitalised where the cost of the asset, or group of assets, exceeds £500.

Website planning costs are charged to the statement of financial activities as incurred. Other website costs are capitalised as a fixed asset only where they lead to the creation of an enduring asset delivering tangible future benefits whose value is at least as great as the amount capitalised.

An impairment review is undertaken of the net asset value of the website at each balance sheet date. Expenditure to maintain or operate the development website is charged to the statement of financial activities.

(v) DEPRECIATION

Assets are depreciated in equal instalments over the following periods:

IT equipment 3 years Website/intranet/online renewal 3 years Office furniture and equipment 10 years Leasehold improvements (office fit-out) Over the lease term (15 years)

Depreciation is provided so as to write off the cost, less residual value, of the assets evenly over their estimated useful lives.

(vi) INVESTMENTS

Investments are a form of basic financial instruments and are initially shown in the financial statements at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date. Movements in the

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fair values of investments are shown as unrealised gains and losses in the statement of financial activities.

Investments comprise shares, funds, cash or deposits held as investments. The investments are limited to cash in instant access or term deposits and permitted investments in line with the investment policy approved by Council in February 2019.

(vii) FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The Charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

(viii) DEBTORS

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

(ix) CASH AT BANK AND IN HAND

Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short-term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

(x) CREDITORS AND PROVISIONS FOR LIABILITIES

Creditors and provisions are recognised when the charity has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of a past event. They are recognised when it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required to settle the obligation and a reliable estimate can be made of the obligation.

Where a present obligation exists for FTP cases as a result of a past event and estimate can be made of the obligation, then this is provided for. The accuracy of the provision will depend on the assumptions made about the progress of individual cases and is subjected to a significant degree of uncertainty.

(xi) FUNDS AND RESERVES

All of our funds are unrestricted and can be expended at our discretion to help deliver our objectives.

We have set designated funds aside as follows:

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(xii) TAXATION

We are not registered for VAT and VAT on expenditure is expensed as part of the cost of the goods or services supplied.

(xiii) OPERATING LEASES

The annual rentals are charged to the statement of financial activities over the term of the lease.

(xiv) EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Short-term benefits - Short-term benefits, including holiday pay, are recognised as an expense in the period in which the service is received.

Employee termination benefits - Termination benefits are accounted for on an accrual basis and in line with FRS 102.

Pension scheme - Council contributes to a defined contribution pension scheme for the benefit of its employees under an auto-enrolment scheme, the assets of which are administered by Royal London. The assets of the scheme are held independently from those of the Charity in an independently administered fund. The pensions costs charged in the financial statements represent the contributions payable during the year.

2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000
2. Income from charitable activities
Registration and renewal fee 9,559
 9,279
Continuing Education Training provider 12
 34
Total 9,571
 9,313
2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000
3. Income from Investment
Interest from fixed deposits 12
 29
Dividend income 202
 259
Total 214
 288

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4. There was no income arising from other activities during 2020-21 and 2019-2020.

Direct Support Total
Cost Cost 2020/21
£'000 £'000 £'000
5. Charitable activities
Fitness to practise (Note 5a.) 3,281 1,625 4,906
Registration 484 458 942
Education & standards 1,279 671 1,950
Policy 226 146 372
Communications 240 140 380
**Total ** 5,510 3,040 8,550

Comparative figures below:

Comparative figures below:
Direct Support Total
Cost Cost 2019/20
£'000 £'000 £'000
5. Charitable activities
Fitness to practise (Note 5a.) 4,123 1,787 5,910
Registration 708 503 1,211
Education & standards 1,561 838 2,399
Policy 222 100 322
Communications 243 139 382
Total 6,857 3,367 10,224

The following table analyses the FtP costs:

2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000
5a. Fitness to practise including Legal compliance
Legal fees on investigations
 336
 606
Other investigation costs
 1,282
 1,540
Hearing costs
 1,025
 1,321
Dispute mediation
 228
 215
Legal compliance
 410
 441
Support costs
 1,625
 1,787
Total
 4,906
 5,910

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SECTION THREE: OUR FINANCE REPORT

2020/21
Management Governance Facilities HR Finance IT Total
6. Support costs £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Fitness to practise 52 389 387 201 171 425 1,625
Registration 14 109 109 57 48 121 458
Education and
Standards 21 161 160 83 70 176 671
Policy 5 35 35 18 15 38 146
Communications 4 34 33 17 15 37 140
Total 96 728 724 376 319 797 3,040

Comparative figures below:

2019/20
Management Governance Facilities HR
Finance		 IT Total
6. Support costs £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
£'000		 £'000
£'000
Fitness to practise 126 405 410 271 130 445 1,787
Registration 36 114 115 76 36 126 503
Education and
Standards 59 190 192 127 61 209 838
Policy 7 23 23 15 7 25 100
Communications 10 31 32 21 10 35 139
Total 238 763 772 510 244 840 3,367

Governance cost includes fees and expenditure incurred in relation to Council and the committees, external and internal audit fees and staff cost related to supporting the governance activities. Support cost is allocated to different activities on the basis of staff numbers.

The details of the governance cost included under support cost are as follows. Members’ fees and expenses include Council (trustees) and committee members costs.

2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000
Governance costs
Members' fees and expenses 252 301
Staff cost 368 360
External audit fees 20 19
Internal audit fees 23 39
Other governance cost 65 44
Total 728 763

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SECTION THREE: OUR FINANCE REPORT

2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000
7. Net income for the year are stated after
charging:
Fees paid to external auditors - haysmacintyre:
external audit fee (excl. VAT)
 17 16
taxation advice
 - 2
Internal audit fees
 23 39
Depreciation of fixed assets
 137 152
2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000
8. Staff costs
Staff employment costs:
Salaries
 3,780 4,079
Settlements
 17 46
National insurance
 359 403
Pension costs
 325 341
Total
 4,481 4,869
Average number of staff 2020/21 2019/20
Chief Executive's office 1 2
Management team 6 6
Fitness to practise 30 34
Registration 8 10
Education, Standards & CET 12 15
Policy and Communications 5 5
Governance, Compliance, performance
planning 6 5
Resources (Facilities, HR, Finance, IT) 15 14
Total 83 91

The number of staff whose taxable emoluments fell into higher salary bands was:

2020/21 2019/20
£60,000 but under £70,000 5 4
£70,000 but under £80,000 3 1
£80,000 but under £90,000 - 2
£90,000 but under £100,000 1 1
£110,000 but under £120,000 - 1
£130,000 but under £140,000 1 1

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During the year, Council paid £79,522 for ten members of staff in this category (2019/20 £48,058 for ten members of staff) to a defined contribution pension scheme. The trustees (Council members) consider the SMT(see page 37, REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAIL) to be key management.

The trustees are also paid fees and reimbursed expenses for their travel and subsistence. The details are in table nine. No amounts are paid directly to third parties that are not already disclosed in table nine.

Remuneration and benefits received by key management personnel (SMT) are as follows:

follows:
2020/21 2019/20
Key management personnel £'000 £'000
Gross Pay 462
 550
Employer national insurance contributions 53
 63
Employer pension contributions 46
 48
Benefits 3
 10
Total 564
 671
2020/21
Fees Fees inc. VAT Expenses Total
9. Trustees' expenses £ £ £ £
Gareth Hadley* 52,190 52,190 1,064
 53,254
Helen Tilley 17,073 17,073 316
 17,389
Scott Mackie 13,962 16,754 -
 16,754
Glenn Tomison 13,962 13,962 -
 13,962
Rosie Glazebrook 13,962 13,962 -
 13,962
David Parkins 13,962 13,962 -
 13,962
Sinead Burns 13,962 13,962 -
 13,962
Josie Forte 13,962 13,962 -
 13,962
Mike Galvin** 13,962 15,591 -
 15,591
Clare Minchington 13,962 13,962 -
 13,962
Roshni Samra 13,962 13,962 -
 13,962
Tim Parkinson*** 13,387 13,387 -
 13,387
Anne Wright*** 6,484 6,484 -
 6,484
Total 214,792 219,213 1,380
 220,593
Number of trustees 12

*** Appointed during the year.

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SECTION THREE: OUR FINANCE REPORT

Comparative figures below.
2019/20
Fees
Fees inc. VAT
Expenses
Total
Trustees' expenses
£
£
£
£
Selina Ullah
5,818
5,818
1,238
7,056
Gareth Hadley
58,806
58,806
585
59,391
Helen Tilley
17,073
17,073
3,852
20,925
Scott Mackie
13,962
13,962
3,374
17,336
Glen Tomison
13,962
13,962
3,229
17,191
Rosie Glazebrook
13,962
13,962
55
14,017
David Parkins
13,962
13,962
-
13,962
Sinead Burns
13,962
13,962
5,462
19,424
Josie Forte
13,962
13,962
2,758
16,720
Mike Galvin
13,962
16,288
1,486
17,774
Clare Minchington
13,962
13,962
1,022
14,984
Roshni Samra
13,962
13,962
188
14,150
Deborah Bowman
6,554
6,554
-
6,554
Total
213,909
216,235
23,249
239,484
Number of trustees
12

Opticians Act 1989, schedule 1 of the act, paragraph 11 (2) b allows us to pay fees to trustees for attending Council meetings.

Capital
Office, furniture Refurbish- IT IT work-in
and equipment ment hardware software progress Total
10. Tangible
fixed assets £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Cost as at 1
April 2020 304 1,058 257 1,387 - 3,006
Add: Cost of
additions - - 17 - 163 180
Less:
Disposals - - - - -
Transfers - - - - - -
Total at 31
March 2021 304 1,058 274 1,387 163 3,185
Less:
Depreciation
As at 1 April
2020 (126) (320) (196) (1,387) - (2,029)
Charged in the
year (30) (74) (33) - - (137)
Disposals - - - - - -
Total at 31
March 2021 (156) (394) (229) (1,387) - (2,166)
Net book value
31 March 2021 148 664 45 - 163 1,019
Net Book
Value 31
March 2020 178 738 61 - - 977

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2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000
11. Investment
Investments b/f 6,766 8,035
Additions 1,690 1,816
Disposals (1,693) (2,242)
Realised gains 263 23
Unrealised gains 1,633 (866)
Investments c/f 8,659 6,766
Cash 201 246
Total portfolio 8,860 7,012

Total portfolio includes cash held with equity managers.

During the year £43,249 (2019/20 £43,214) was incurred as investment management fees and has been disclosed on the Statement of Financial Activities as Raising Funds.

2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000
12. Debtors
Prepayments
 486
 368
Other debtors
 37
 74
Accrued income
 14
 -
Total
 537
 442
2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000
13. Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year
Trade creditors
 111
 363
Deferred income (note 13a)
 9,004
 8,914
Accruals
 823
 1,119
Other tax and social security
 127
 97
Other creditors
 84
 67
Total
 10,149
 10,560
2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000
13a. Deferred income
At 1 April 8,914 8,528
Amount deferred during the year 9,065 9,076
Amount released to Statement of Financial Activities (8,975) (8,690)
Total 9,004 8,914

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Accruals include rent accrual amounting to £468,655 (2019/20 £413,515).

Income from registrant renewal fees received in advance is deferred and will be released as income in 2021/22.

2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000
14. Financial Instruments
Financial assets measured at fair value 8,860 7,012
Financial assets measured at amortised cost 8,412 7,742
Financial liabilities measured at amortised cost (1,145) (1,645)
Net financial assets measured at amortised cost 16,127 13,109
2020 Income Expenditure Transfers / 2021
gain / loss
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
15. Funds
Unrestricted funds
Designated funds
Legal cost reserve 1,624 - - (924) 700
Strategic reserve 2,845 - (371) (474) 2,000
Covid -19 reserve - - - 900 900
Infrastructure/dilapidations
reserve - - - 500 500
Total designated funds 4,469 - (371) 2 4,100
General funds
Income and expenditure
reserve 1,070 9,784 (8,221) 1,894 4,527
Total funds 5,539 9,784 (8,592) 1,896 8,627

Comparative figures below.

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2019 Income Expenditure Transfers / 2020
gain / loss
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Funds
Unrestricted funds
Designated funds
Legal cost reserve 1,624 - - - 1,624
Strategic reserve 2,984 - (139) - 2,845
Total designated funds 4,608 - (139) - 4,469
General funds
Income and expenditure
reserve 2,424 9,601 (10,128) (827) 1,070
Total funds 7,032 9,601 (10,267) (827) 5,539

Two new reserves were added, and legal costs reserve was re-defined in an update to the reserves policy during the year. All the reserves are un-restricted. The legal cost reserve is to mitigate the risk of high-value complex cases arising over and above planned levels. The Strategic reserve is held to support the delivery of specific strategic projects and initiatives outlined in the GOC’s strategic plan. The new COVID-19 reserve is a contingency reserve and is created to mitigate the risk of falling registration income. Infrastructure/dilapidations reserve is set up to build in funds in developing the infrastructure needed should we leave the current premises when lease term expires.

Unrestricted Total Total
funds 2020/21 2019/20
£'000 £'000 £'000
16. Analysis of net assets by fund
Tangible fixed assets 1,019 1,019 977
Investments 8,860 8,860 7,012
Current assets 8,897 8,897 8,110
Current liabilities (10,149) (10,149) (10,560)
Total net assets 8,627 8,627 5,539

17. Pension commitments

We operate a defined contribution auto-enrolment pension scheme on behalf of employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of Council in an independently administered fund. The total expense incurred during the year was £324,679 (2019/20 £341,356). There were £58,992 in outstanding contributions in 2020/21, (2019/20 £50,111) included in the balance sheet.

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18. Commitments under operating leases

At 31 March 2021, the charity had the following future lease payments under operating leases.

2020/21 2019/20
Land and buildings
£'000 £'000
Within one year 620
 620
In two to five years inclusive 1,861
 2,481
Over fiveyears -
 -
Office Equipment lease 2020/21
£'000		 2019/20
£'000
Within one year 28
 36
In two to fiveyears inclusive 31
 59

The total charge of all operating leases to the statement of financial activities as at 31 March 2021 was £556,812 (2019/20 £532,413).

19. Related party transactions

During the year, members of Council receive fees and related expenditure through Council payroll (refer to table nine for details).

The following Council members declared related party transactions during the year:

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