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Harley Street will remain the home of the General Optical Council for the time being after plans to move out were put on the backburner.

A packed Council meeting last week was told the possibility of occupying upper floors of the current building was being prioritised.

Plans to relocate to a leased or freehold building in London, possibly with another regulator, would still be explored.

Samantha Peters, chief executive and registrar of the GOC, said: 'We want to be really realistic about the speed we can drive a project like this forward at the moment.'

Other more pressing projects on the GOC agenda included changes to CET from January next year, the Law Commission review of health regulators, and changes to the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE).

The Council briefed approvers and regulators of the new CET scheme last month, but concern was raised about the timeframe to procure CET that would include more peer discussion and clinical skills this time around.

Linda Ford, GOC head of education and standards, said: 'This was our first proper and detailed engagement with these groups on the changes to the scheme.'

There was further discussion at the meeting about the GOC reassessing its role in registering students amid 'significant costs on students, training providers and the GOC' (News 08.06.12).

However, a straw poll conducted by council member Liam Kite, admissions tutor and lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, indicated interest remained.

'The students like to be members as it lets them feel they are part of the profession from day one,' he said.

Kite said numbers of science students had not been affected by the rise in tuition fees, adding they were less likely to drop out given the extra expense.