Reduced GDC budget and unchanged ARF for 2021

The Council met on 22 October and took a number of key decisions including the approval of its plans and budget for 2021. Perhaps most striking, due to the significant uncertainty thrown up by COVID-19 and Brexit, we have planned on the basis of a 10% income risk for 2021 and have accordingly reduced our budget for next year by 6.5%. The annual retention fee (ARF) will, however, remain unchanged for 2021.

Speaking after Council, our Chief Executive and Registrar, Ian Brack, said:

“COVID-19 has been very challenging for the dental sector and the country is now experiencing the long-expected second wave of the pandemic. This is expected to impact on the professions we regulate, and we do not know how this will affect the register.

The GDC has no option but to continue to undertake its statutory duties but faces very great uncertainty. Some of the risks we face include smaller numbers joining the professions and larger numbers leaving, disruption to the flow of overseas registrants as a consequence of our exit from the EU, and the potential delays in students qualifying to register due to interruptions in education caused by the pandemic. In addition to these income risks we have considerable uncertainty in relation to significant elements of expenditure – for example in relation to legislative change relating to overseas registration.

For these reasons, we have sought to maximise our resilience and the flexibility of our plans whilst continuing to provide certainty for dental professionals in relation to the fee.” 

For further information about the decisions taken in the recent Council meeting, read the post-Council update from GDC Chair, Bill Moyes.