Remuneration Arrangements For New Council Agreed - General Optical Council, UK
July 10th, 2008 | by admin |At its July meeting Council agreed revised remuneration packages for new Council members who will take up office in April 2009. Members currently receive a daily rate for attendance at Council meetings and other committee or working groups.
The chair receives an annual honorarium; the deputy chair, treasurer and committee chairs also receive an annual fee for their additional responsibilities. It was agreed that an annual honorarium payment package of ￡12k would be introduced for Council members. This roughly equates to the equivalent daily rate currently received by members.
The chair will continue to receive an annual honorarium of ￡35k. The decision is in line with the recommendations made in Niall Dickson’s report, published in June, exploring the recommendations made in the Government White Paper on healthcare regulation. It was felt that an annual payment would also be advantageous for budget forecasting.
These developments follow White Paper recommendations that members of healthcare regulatory councils should be independently appointed, rather than elected. The current chairman, Rosie Varley completes her ten years’ service at the end of this year. The Appointments Commission are expected to begin the recruitment process for the positions from September 2008.
About the General Optical Council
The GOC is the regulator for the optical professions in the UK. Its purpose is to protect the public by promoting high standards of education and conduct amongst opticians. The Council currently registers around 22,000 optometrists, dispensing opticians, student opticians and optical businesses.
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