Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to introduce requirements for veterinary practices to display in-clinic and online information about ownership beyond listings on the RCVS website.

Defra welcomes the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA’s) market investigation into veterinary services for household pets and continues to engage with the CMA throughout this process. The CMA’s responsibilities include enforcing the law against anti-competitive practices and investigating mergers that could reduce competition. The CMA are currently reviewing the results of the consultation on their Provisional Decision Report which includes introducing requirements for veterinary practices to be open about their ownership. Defra will be responding to the CMA’s final report following its publication in Spring 2026 and will be consulting on reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 in due course.