Legal Support Services (Fitness to Practise)

The full description document (including expression of interest assessment criteria) is available at: www.optical.org/en/about_us/working_… ↗

The value of this contract as stated is its total value - please note that we anticipate appointing up to two suppliers to provide the service (meaning that the value of the contract would be approximately half its stated total value if two providers are appointed).

We are the regulator for the optical professions in the UK. Our purpose is to protect the public by promoting high standards of education, performance and conduct amongst opticians. We currently register around 30,000 optometrists, dispensing opticians, student opticians and optical businesses.

A brief description of our four core regulatory functions is:

• Setting standards for optical education and training, performance and conduct.
• Approving qualifications leading to registration.
• Maintaining a register of individuals who are qualified and fit to practise, train or carry on business as optometrists and dispensing opticians.

-Investigating and acting where registrants' fitness to practise, train or carry on business is impaired.

Our website is at: www.optical.org ↗

We are seeking to procure legal support services for our Fitness to Practise (FTP) directorate, with effect from 1 April 2022.

This year (2021-22) it is forecast that we will open approximately 120 fitness to practice investigations. Currently, approximately 45 per cent of investigation cases are being referred to our Fitness to Practise Committee. We expect to instruct up to half of these referred cases out to the appointed provider(s), either for advocacy only, or for investigation and advocacy (for the sake of clarity, we expect to manage the other half in-house). We also expect to instruct appointed providers to undertake initial-stages investigations in a (total) maximum of 10 cases per annum. We expect these current case numbers to broadly continue through the period of the contract.

The provision of legal services will be governed by an agreement commencing 1 April 2022 and concluding 31 March 2024, but with an option for the GOC to extend for 12 months to 31 March 2025.

The requirements of the service are:

• conduct of investigative work on the GOC's behalf in relation to fitness to practise allegations relating to registered opticians and optical businesses
• preparation for, and presentation of, the GOC's case at substantive Fitness to Practise Committee hearings
• occasional preparation for, and presentation of the GOC's case at non-substantive hearings (interim order applications/reviews/extensions, substantive order reviews) and Registration Appeal Committee hearings
• provision of advice relating to the conduct of individual investigations into the fitness to practise of GOC registrants, and relating to interpretation of GOC legislation and rules
• provision of training to Committee members, Case Examiners and GOC staff.

Note: Fitness to Practise Committee in-person hearings are held in London.

This procurement process is being undertaken as a two-stage restricted tender procedure, pursuant to section 6.2 (ii) of the GOC Contracts and Procurement Policy: www.optical.org/download.cfm ↗

Before applying, please ensure you are familiar with the fitness to practise function of the General Optical Council:

www.optical.org/en/Investigating_com… ↗