Equality plan

The General Optical Council has published a draft consultation document for the Council's equality and diversity scheme.

The aim of the consultation, which will seek input from the professional optical bodies and other interested parties, is to establish appropriate governance structures to oversee the Council's equality and diversity work.

The document also highlights proposals to ensure that the Council meets its specific duties under the Equality Act 2006 which requires it to publish a disability equality scheme by December 3 2007.

The Department of Health has also signalled that it would require the GOC to publish a race equality scheme. Objectives include collecting age and gender balance data of registrants and to ensure that GOC-approved courses are free from discrimination.