The GDC has disclosed its credit card spending to GDPUK and, while the results aren’t scandalous, there is some interesting reading. Sophie Borland reports

A Freedom of Information request by GDPUK has revealed how staff at the General Dental Council are spending money on company credit cards.

The request reveals that the regulator has spent almost £400,000 on the cards since 2023, which includes general sustenance but also some more upmarket restaurant meals and hotels, as well as team-building days.

The cards are mainly funded through the registration fees of dental professionals and according to the GDC’s policy, they are only meant to be used for official business and on items which are ‘value for money.’

The British Dental Association (BDA) told us that ‘every last penny’ that wasn’t spent by the GDC performing its statutory duty ‘needs to be justified.’

However, other dentist leaders said that the regulator needs to ensure staff welfare and morale, which includes team-building activities.

The GDC itself says that every expense is in line with its policies, and is ‘for GDC business purposes and represent value for money’.

Some of the more notable sums within the FOI response include:

  • £2,310 bill for the Hotel du Vin boutique hotel chain in October 2024;
  • £1,636 meal at the Ask Italian restaurant in London’s Mayfair in December 2025;
  • £1,410 trip to a series of luxury ‘escape rooms’ on London’s Oxford Street last August;
  • £550 meal at the Dishoom Indian restaurant in Birmingham, also last December;
  • £476 bill for the Riva Blu restaurant and cocktail bar in Birmingham in April 2025.

In total, the response revealed that GDC staff have spent £399,735 on the cards since 2023 including £120,748 in 2025.

The GDC increased its registration fees for 2026 and dental health professionals are now paying an average of 12.5% more compared with 2025.

Responding to the findings Eddie Crouch, chair of the BDA told us: ‘The GDC is on a long journey to restore the confidence of dentists. And nothing goes to the heart of that more the fees it levies and how it spends the proceeds.

‘Some progress has been made here, but registrant fees are paid to fulfil the GDC’s statutory functions. Every last penny spent that doesn't achieve that needs to be justified.’

But Dr Simon Thackeray, president of the British Association of Private Dentistry and a practising dentist in Mansfield, Nottingham said: ‘That’s a big spend - £400,000 - but then how many is this divided by? If you look at the GDC, it operates as a regulator but it doesn’t get any funding from anywhere else. So its running as a business and we are the customers of that business, as the profession.

‘Now does that mean that they can’t have a Christmas party, can they not have something to promote staff wellbeing. I look at this from both ways. Without the context, that’s a heck of a lot of money but then if you look at the context in there, then per person, it might not be that much.’

A GDC spokesperson said: ‘Corporate credit card spending is subject to a clear policy setting out that all expenditure must be for GDC business purposes and represent value for money, and a fully itemised receipt is required for every transaction. Every payment referenced complies with our expenses policy, regardless of the supplier.’

‘Many of the payments referred to relate to group meals, meetings or events, rather than individual spend. For example, where individuals travelling across the UK for meetings share a single bill for accommodation or food, this can appear as one larger transaction rather than several smaller ones. All such spend falls within our published per-head meal allowances.’