Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what powers he has to change the leadership of the General Dental Council.

The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent regulator of dentistry in the United Kingdom. As an independent body, the GDC is responsible for the discharge of its statutory duties and the Government is unable to direct the GDC’s administrative functions or processes.

The GDC is accountable for the discharge of its statutory duties through the requirement for it to submit annual reports to the Privy Council; through scrutiny the Health and Care Select Committee may choose to undertake; and through annual performance reviews by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, who can escalate serious or intractable concerns to both Government and Parliament.

The Privy Council may make orders which determine the composition of the Council and processes for the appointment of the Chair of the Council, as set out by Schedule 1 of the Dentists Act 1984.