Financial affairs under scrutiny of new board

Better financial reporting to members was called for atthe first meeting of the newly appointed General Optical Council board on April 2.

Communication about how the GOC uses registrants' finances and the degree of effectiveness with which it does so are areas that should see improvement under the Council's new ways of working.

While outlining the key duties of the Council and its new working practices, chair Geoff Harris said: 'Finances should have a greater degree of transparency.'

It was also revealed at the meeting that the Department of Health had recently confirmed it would supply £190,000 to support the Council's work on revalidation. However, according to Harris the money was provided to test the concept and pilot 'exploratory work' not fund the process over an on-going period (See News, March 27).