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VSA reform - time for change

The Veterinary Surgeons Act (VSA) 1966 is outdated and in urgent need of reform.  It does not give us the powers or flexibility necessary to be a regulator fit for purpose in the 21st century. 

Following lengthy and detailed discussions between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), ourselves, and other key stakeholders, the government is now consulting on potential reform of the VSA, including a number of recommendations we feel will help to protect animal health and welfare.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help shape future of the veterinary professions. It’s been over 60 years since the last VSA – it’s time for change.

Spaniel in vet practice

Respond to the consultation

We encourage you to seize this chance to help protect animal health and welfare and shape the future of the veterinary professions by responding to the government's consultation.

It will be open for 8 weeks, closing at 5pm on Wednesday, 25 March 2026. 

Before you respond, however, we invite you to explore the information available below to help you get to grips with all the recommendations.

Have your say

The reforms - an overview

The government's consultation sets out a number of proposed reforms that will help us to regulate more efficiently and flexibly.

These reforms are grouped into four main categories:

  • Licence to practise - modernising registration with a new licence to practise system for both veterinary and allied professionals; enabling us to require mandatory continuing professional development and revalidation; and, allowing access to the professions for those disabilities or chronic ill-health conditions.
  • Fitness to practise - replacing our out-of-date and somewhat backward-looking disciplinary system with a modern fitness to practise scheme that has wider range of sanctions and a reformed standard of proof.
  • Regulation of veterinary/animal healthcare businesses - broadening our powers to allow the regulation of veterinary and animal healthcare businesses, not just the individual professionals who work in them.
  • Governance reform - a recommended governance model (Option 1), where we would remain a Royal College that regulates, but with greater clarity between our functions. This would enable us to regulate in a holistic way, helping to prevent problems before they arise, rather than only having the power to deal with them afterwards.

Vets in field with cattle

The reforms in more detail

Licence to practise reforms

  • To protect the title 'veterinary nurse' - giving statutory protection to this title helps stop unqualified individuals working in veterinary medicine. There would also be the potential to expand the vet nurse role in future, and allow VNs to work independently of employment by a veterinary surgeon.
  • Modernising the registration process - through a 'licence to practise' framework, we would be able to ensure that all veterinary and allied professionals on our registers are fit to practise. If a minimum level of CPD wasn't completed, we would be able to refuse to register those individuals.
  • Improved access for those with disabilities/chronic illness- for individuals who can't complete their degree or perform all aspects of veterinary practice due to a disability or chronic ill-health, the introduction of limited or focused licensing would offer a route into the profession. 

Backgrounders
A deep dive into protecting the VN title (Blogs, October 2022)

Paraprofessional regulation (Features, July 2020)

Revalidation and limited licensure (Features, August 2020)

Fitness to practise reforms

  • To introduce a 'fitness to practice' regime - for better protection of the public/animal welfare, our disciplinary system should be revised to give us greater powers and help speed up decision-making. Changes would include a wider range of sanctions, a more suitable standard of proof and broader grounds for investigation.

Backgrounder
Towards a fitness to practise regime (Features, August 2020)

Business regulation reforms

  • To be able to regulate all businesses - currently, we can only regulate individual veterinary professionals and those veterinary businesses that have volunteered to be part of our Practice Standards Scheme. We recommend having the authority to access and license all veterinary and animal healthcare businesses, not just the individual veterinary and allied professionals who work in them. 

Backgrounders
Towards Mandatory Practice Regulation (Blogs, June 2024)

Assuring practice regulation (Features, July 2020)

Governance reforms

  • To retain a Royal College that regulates - our unique arrangement allows us carry out our regulatory functions alongside those traditionally associated with Royal Colleges (such as postgraduate education and the RCVS Fellowship). This allows for greater cost effectiveness and consistency, and makes sure that professional expertise remains at the centre of decision-making.

    We can go further than other regulators in our supportive approach to regulation, particularly in areas like mental health support, eg our Mind Matters Initiative and advice, for example, the RCVS Academy.

    Reforms would including replacing RCVS Council with a modern board, with parity of veterinary professionals and ‘lay’ members to remove any perception that the professions mark their own homework. Greater separation between regulatory and non-regulatory functions would also improve clarity.

Find out more

We have produced a range of additional resources to help you understand the importance of this reform.

Webinar

Register for our free webinar: A Royal College that regulates: seeking veterinary legislation fit for the future on Tuesday, 10 February 2026, at 12:30pm on The Webinar Vet.

Speakers

  • Tim Hutchinson BVSc MRCVS, RCVS Junior Vice-President
  • Lizzie Lockett, RCVS Chief Executive 
  • Julie Dugmore RVN, RCVS Director of Veterinary Nursing

Book your place

Podcasts

This podcast, published on 2 December 2025, delves into the importance of legislative reform, the future of veterinary nursing, the need for mandatory practice standards and the potential expansion of the regulatory framework to include a broader range of veterinary professionals.

Further reading

We have been campaigning for legislative reform for many years. The following news articles, blogs and features help to explain further the background for our reform recommendations.

News

Blogs

Features

 

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