General Dental Council (GDC)
The GDC has issued a statement on the Court of Appeal’s decision in GDC v Aga, which clarifies the position with regard to interim orders which pre-date a substantive decision:
The Court of Appeal has provided clarity on the interpretation of how immediate orders and substantive sanctions interact under the Dentists Act 1984.
The judgment confirmed that there is no basis for aggregating a substantive suspension direction and an immediate suspension order, and treating the aggregated period as if it had been passed as a single substantive suspension, describing them as “clearly different”.
This judgment aligns with the longstanding interpretation of the legislation by the GDC, in accordance with other healthcare regulators with similar legislative provisions.
You can view the judgment here.
General Medical Council (GMC)
The GMC has submitted its response to Professor Gillian Leng’s independent review of the physician associate (PA) and anaesthesia associate (AA) professions in England. In its submission, the GMC emphasised the importance of statutory regulation for PA and AAs, given that they undertake complex work that poses some level of risk to the public, and regulation mitigates this risk.
The submission also highlighted that, as the multi-professional regulator for doctors, PAs and AAs, the GMC is well placed to work with others across the health system to identify and address issues that concern all three professions. For example, the availability of supervisors and student training placements.
The GMC stated that regulation is already beginning to raise standards of practice through ensuring that only those individuals with the right clinical knowledge and skills are entered onto the GMC’s registers.
The GMC has been reviewing all PA and AA curricula and courses to make sure they meet their standards and the GMC’s Council will make the first decisions about which courses are formally approved in April 2025. If the GMC does not have assurance that a course meets all its required standards, it will recommend attaching conditions to that approval, or not recommend them for approval at all. In these cases, the GMC will work with course providers through a targeted action plan to address any concerns within an agreed timeframe.
The GMC’s full submission to the Leng review is available here.
On 21 February 2025, the GMC wrote to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and the corresponding government ministers in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The GMC clarified their approach to the publication of fitness to practise history for their registrants who have transitioned gender.
In the letter, the GMC confirmed that fitness to practise history is accurately displayed on the records of all of those doctors and no fitness to practise history has been removed or suppressed.
The GMC also provided assurance that no doctor will escape accountability or transparency about any fitness to practise history through changing their gender.
General Pharmaceutical Council (GPHC)
The updated guidance emphasises that for high-risk medicines, the prescriber cannot base prescribing decisions on the information solely provided in an online questionnaire. Instead, the prescriber has to independently verify the information the person provides, either through timely two-way communication with the person, accessing the person’s clinical records, or contacting the person’s GP, their regular prescriber, or a third-party provider. This will help prevent people providing false information to obtain medicines that are not clinically appropriate for them.
Medicines used for weight-management and medicines requiring physical examination before a prescribing decision is made have been added to the list of high-risk medicines requiring extra safeguards before being prescribed. A prescriber now has to independently verify the person’s weight, height and/or body mass index before providing medicines for weight-management. This is in order to support safer decision making and ensure that the supply is appropriate for the person.
Further safeguards have also been included in the guidance for medicines liable to misuse, and those for long-term conditions or that require ongoing monitoring or management.
Architects Registration Board (ARB)
The ARB has reached a major milestone in its reforms to architects’ training and education in the UK. On 9 April 2025, the ARB’s Accreditation Committee agreed to approve three new Master’s level qualifications by the University of Leeds, two of which take an innovative integrated format. The Accreditation Committee’s decision will be finalised after a statutory consultation ARB must hold with relevant professional bodies.
This is the first time that a new-style architectural qualification that meets the ARB’s new Competency Outcomes has reached this stage of the accreditation process. It marks a significant step forward in implementing the new regulatory framework for architectural education, which was introduced to better align how architects are trained with contemporary practice, widen access to the profession, and ensure architects are equipped with the skills needed to meet future challenges.
The ARB anticipates that more qualifications will be approved for consultation under the new accreditation framework in the coming months as institutions continue to adapt existing courses and submit proposals for new programmes for accreditation. Updates on these qualifications will be published on the ARB’s website following the statutory consultation.
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
Concerns remain about solicitors getting involved in abusive litigation aimed at silencing legitimate criticism – known as SLAPPs (strategic litigation against public participation).
The SRA’s decision to not take enforcement action following a complaint against Discreet Law has attracted widespread interest. The SRA have clarified some of the key principles underpinning their approach to SLAPPs.
SRA’s approach to SLAPPs
The court has a key role in identifying and taking action on SLAPPs – this includes striking out SLAPP claims and protecting parties from costs and other consequences in such cases.
The SRA’s role is distinct from that of the court. It does not depend on defining a case as a SLAPP. Instead, their role is to make sure a solicitor has acted properly and ethically, and does not facilitate or further abuse of the legal system.
The SRA require solicitors to take steps to satisfy themselves that cases they bring are properly arguable. That means there are facts or arguments to test before the court. Solicitors must make sure they properly scrutinise a claimant's case and instructions in order to do this, and where necessary, decline instructions to act where they are not satisfied that there is an arguable case.
Financial Reporting Council (FRC)
The FRC announced the public beta launch of its digital reporting Viewer, a new tool designed to improve free access to structured company reporting data.
The Viewer enables users to easily view and analyse Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL) files, displaying tagged data within reports. This innovative tool represents a significant step forward in making company financial information more accessible and transparent to stakeholders.
The UK is a global leader in digital company reporting, offering a cost-effective and transparent method of filing. Of the 3.1 million accounts published annually on the Companies House register, 88% are available in iXBRL format, as are those from listed companies who file with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Viewer unlocks these vast repositories of digital data, enabling investors, businesses, and the public to easily access and analyse company information.
The project, led by the FRC, aims to accelerate and support the use of structured company and organisational data across both public and regulatory sectors, and is supported by key regulatory partners including Companies House, the Charity Commission, the FCA and HMRC.
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Under its new strategy, the FCA is establishing a presence in the United States (US) and Asia-Pacific (APAC) for the first time.
Based in Washington, DC. Tash Miah will work closely with the Department for Business and Trade to advance UK-US financial services policy and regulatory cooperation, and support financial firms in the US to navigate UK regulation.
Based in Australia, Camille Blackburn will establish a regional office from July 2025 as the FCA’s director – Asia-Pacific. The role will focus on supporting financial services firms to navigate regulation to enter the UK market or raise capital and provide UK firms with support expanding into the APAC region.
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