Council votes in favour of further proposed changes to RCVS governance

At its meeting on Thursday 13 March 2025, members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Council voted in favour of further proposed reforms to the College’s governance, including a new structure that would ensure the necessary input of veterinary professionals is retained. This approval allows the RCVS to make recommendations to government on future governance structure for the professions, and the ultimate decision will rest with government.

Council members had previously (November 2024) approved a number of proposals for reform, including a fully-appointed governing body, greater parity between professional and lay Council members, and removing Veterinary Schools Council-appointees from Council. Council deferred decisions about the size and composition of the governing body, as well as the possibility of having a specific council for veterinary surgeons.

These deferred questions were taken on by a newly formed Legislative Reform Working Party, which worked up a series of proposals to present to Council, including a new governance structure where veterinary professionals have a voice and input into recommendations concerning standards and development of their profession

The following proposed recommendations to government were accepted by majority vote:

• To reduce the size of Council to closer to the regulatory norm of 10 to 12 members, and for this to become a 'board', rather than Council.
• To recommend full parity between lay and registrant members on the governing board.
• For veterinary surgeons to remain predominant amongst the registrant half of the governing board and for VNs to have at least one member on the board, thus leaving potential for future regulated allied professionals to be included. 
• To introduce a council for veterinary surgeons with the same option available for any future newly-regulated allied professions and for all such councils, including the existing VN Council, to report to the governing board.

Assurances were given that under these recommendations veterinary surgeons would continue to be members of the RCVS and to be able to use the postnominal MRCVS, and that their predominance within the professions on the governing board, as well as the input on the veterinary surgeon council, would ensure that the views and input of veterinary surgeons would continue. Similarly, vet nurses would remain associates of the RCVS and retain the RVN postnominal.

Linda Belton (pictured), RCVS President, said: “Thank you to Council members for the robust discussion and subsequent approval of these proposals, which we will now include as part of our ongoing discussions with Government about a modern, flexible veterinary Act that better supports the work of today’s veterinary sector.

“The approved proposals represent a very significant change to the current governance structure of the RCVS and we recognise that, as is often the case with change, there will be concerns. We are regulated as a profession by an independent regulator under statute as opposed to being regulated directly by government. It is crucial that any new legislation preserves the principle of independent regulation, separate from government, but with this privilege comes the responsibility of a modern system of governance in line with the regulation of professionals in other sectors.

“If we are to be granted a new Act by government, then we anticipate, given existing government reports, that this would include changes to the RCVS governance structure. The recommendations approved by Council today will inform our discussions with Defra.

“This set of proposals has the potential to help the RCVS meet its aims of protecting the public interest by ensuring that animal health and welfare, and public health, are advanced through thriving world-class veterinary professions. In addition, these proposals keep the critical voice of veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses and allied professionals closely involved in RCVS decision making but within a modern governance structure acceptable to government.”  

The full details of the proposals – including a chart of the proposed new structure – can be found in the RCVS Council papers. 

Public Advisory Group

Following the governance discussion, RCVS Council considered the future of the RCVS Public Advisory Group (PAG). This was set up in 2023 to act as a sounding board to support the development and improvement of RCVS services to the animal owning public, to test public messaging and communications, and to better understand issues affecting the public.

Council decided unanimously to continue running the PAG on a permanent footing, to adopt proposals for change to improve the effectiveness of the group, and for the President to write to PAG members thanking them for their contributions so far.

In the meeting, PAG Chair, Louise Allum (pictured), shared insights from a survey of PAG members’ views about the work of the group during the pilot. 

Feedback from the group was extremely positive. PAG members said that they had enjoyed being a part of the PAG, felt it was forward-thinking of the College to have set it up, appreciated the passion and diversity of viewpoints expressed, and felt that it was well set up to deliver on its purpose. 

As well as agreeing to the continuation of the group, Council also voted unanimously on a variety of small changes to the group, in order to enhance its effectiveness moving forward. 

Strategic Plan

At the March meeting of RCVS Council members voted unanimously to approve the final draft of the new RCVS Strategic Plan for 2025-2029, the key theme of which is ‘Stronger together, with animal health and welfare at our heart’. The plan will now go to Officers to be formally signed off and will be published by the RCVS in due course.

Council had previously considered a draft of the strategic plan at its January 2025 meeting where it was approved for further consultation to be held with veterinary and veterinary nursing stakeholder organisations, the Public Advisory Group and staff of the College.