About the Act
The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act came fully into force on 1 January 2005. It was introduced to promote a culture of openness and accountability amongst public authorities by giving people rights of access to the information authorities hold. These rights should help better public understanding of how authorities carry out their duties, why they make the decisions they do and how they spend public money.
The GDC Publication Scheme
In preparation, and as part of our duty under the Act, we produced a Publication Scheme that gives information about the GDC and tells you how you can access information that we make available. The Scheme is based on a model developed by the health regulatory bodies in the United Kingdom and approved by the Information Commissioner who enforces both the FOI Act and the Data Protection Act for the Lord Chancellor's Office.
To access the Publication Scheme in English , or Parts 1 and 2 of the Scheme in Welsh, Cymraeg, please click on the link in the right hand menu.
Because Part 3 of the Scheme is a list of GDC publications, it is not possible to translate this section into Welsh. You can also access our Freedom of Information Policy, which includes details of the exemptions that are most likely to be significant for the GDC.
How to make a request
The public right to make access requests under the Act is effective from 1 January 2005. From this date, unless there are any legal exemptions under the Act, applicants have the right to be told whether the GDC holds the information asked for, and, if so, to be given it. Under the Act, you must write, email or fax in a legible form, give your name and an address that we can reply to and describe the information you are asking for.
You may find it helpful to use our Freedom of Information Request Form. Please note that if you ask for anything included in Part 3 of our Publication Scheme this will not be treated as an FOI request.
You can write by:
email to: foirequests@gdc-uk.org;
post to: GDC Information Controller, General Dental Council, 37 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8DQ;
fax to: +44 (0) 20 7224 3294.
Our reply
We will:
- give the information within 20 working days as long as no exemption applies (in which case we will write to you);
- give advice and help, within reason, to identify what you are asking for;
- reply in the format you have asked for, if reasonably practical, or suggest a suitable alternative.
How to complain
If you are not happy with either our reply or the way that we have dealt with your request you can complain, within 60 days, to our Chief Executive at the above address.
If you are not happy with his reply, you can write to the Information Commissioner, The Office of the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 6AF.
General Dental Council - last updated January 2005