Change of https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reform-of-the-veterinary-surgeons-act-1966

Change description : 2026-07-09 09:35:00: Added the summary of responses and government response. [Policy papers and consultations]

Showing diff : 2026-05-27 07:46:29.213698530 +00:00..2026-07-09 08:41:00.414665977 +00:00

ConsultationClosed outcomeconsultation

Reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966

From:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, The Scottish Government, Northern Ireland Executive and Welsh Government
Published
28 January 2026
Last updated
927 JulyMay 2026 — See all updates

We are analysing your feedback

This

Visit consultationthis haspage concluded again soon to download the outcome to this public feedback.

ReadDetail theof fullfeedback outcomereceived

We received 6,217 responses to this consultation. 

Summary

On of24 responsesMarch 2026, the Competition and governmentMarkets responseAuthority (CMA) published their final report

HTML after the market investigation into veterinary services for household pets. This contains recommendations for government on new legislation to tackle the issues it has found that have led to an adverse effect on competition.

Summary

Due to the large number of responses received and governmentthe responseneed (Welshto version)

HTML

Detailreview ofthese outcome

alongside reviewing the recommendations from the CMA’s market investigation, there will be a delay in publishing the summary of responses and government response.

We receivedaim 6,219to set out responsesthe togovernment’s thisvision consultation.for Followingthe thisveterinary sector and respond to the consultation weand havethe publishedrecommendations ourfrom visionthe forCMA ain thrivingthe veterinarysummer.

In sectorthe meantime, if you have any questions about the consultation, please contact us at vsa-reform@defra.gov.uk.

Original consultation

Summary

Consulting on reforms to the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966, including recognising the full veterinary team, modernising the regulator and regulating businesses.

This consultation was held on another website.

This consultation ran from
to

Consultation description

We would like to know your thoughts about potential reforms to the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966.

This could include:

  • regulating all professions in the veterinary team

  • protecting the titles of professions in the veterinary team

  • regulating veterinary and animal healthcare businesses to protect both the public, consumers and animal health and welfare

  • updating the regulator’s structure, to ensure it’s fit for purpose and aligns with the government regulation action plan

Updates to this page

Published 28 January 2026
Last updated 927 JulyMay 2026 href="#full-history">—+ Showshow all updates

  1. Added the summary of responses and government response.

  2. We received 6,217 responses to this consultation. The summary of responses will be published later in the year.

  3. First published.

Sign up for emails or print this page

Update history

2026-07-09 09:35
Added the summary of responses and government response.

2026-05-27 08:45
We received 6,217 responses to this consultation. The summary of responses will be published later in the year.

2026-01-28 09:30
First published.