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Consultation outcome

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:
13 July 2026 — See all updates
This was published under the 2024 to 2026 Starmer Labour government
This consultation has concluded

Read the full outcome

Summary of responses and government response

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Summary of responses and government response (Welsh version)

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Detail of outcome

We received 6,219 responses to this consultation. Following this consultation we have published our vision for a thriving veterinary sector.

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 13 July 2026 Show all updates

  1. Added a 'Next steps' section to the Welsh version.

  2. Added the summary of responses and government response.

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

  4. First published.

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