General Optical Council

Equality and diversity monitoring form 2009/10

As part of the 2009/10 retention process, we asked all registrants to complete an equality and diversity monitoring form. This was the first time we collected data on equality and diversity. Completing the form was not compulsory.

We asked for details of:

• Registrants' ethnicity
• Registrants' age
• Registrants' gender
• Whether the registrant has a disability

Why is the GOC asking registrants for the information on the equality and diversity monitoring form?

We are collecting this data to help make sure that optics in the UK is free from discrimination. For example, we want to know:

• Is access to university courses equal for people of all ethnic groups?
• Do more men or women make it from training to being fully qualified?
• Are our fitness to practise procedures fair to everybody?
• Are there particular barriers to employment with the GOC?

We are now obliged by law to collect this data; particularly in terms of trends relating to fitness to practise hearings and investigations.

Is completing the GOC equality and diversity monitoring form compulsory?

No. But if we get a low response rate then the findings may be inaccurate. Therefore, we would be greatly appreciative if all registrants could complete the form.

Will my data remain anonymous?

Yes. Any finding published will only ever be anonymous and aggregated. So we may publish statistics about our registrants as a whole but will never publish individual information.

Where will the data be stored? When will it be accessed?

The data will only be stored internally within the GOC. Only a small number of employees will be able to access the data for updating or analysis. We will track who has accessed the data to ensure it is only used for the correct purpose. Staff involved in fitness to practise investigations will not have access.

How will the data be used?

Data will be analysed to spot trends and remove barriers or target areas where our policies and practices can be improved to boost equality and diversity. Statistical data will be published in our GOC Annual Report.