Veterinary services for household pets

The CMA’s final report stated that our remedies package will be introduced by Orders placing requirements on veterinary businesses and Undertakings offered by (or Orders imposed on) the RCVS during an implementation period of up to 6 months. On 20 August 2026, we made an Order (and accepted Undertakings from the RCVS) to establish a levy on veterinary businesses to enable the payment of relevant monies to the RCVS by those businesses, as soon as possible. This levy will fund preparatory and ongoing activities of the RCVS implementing the actions we are requiring of it. On 22 September, we made an Order to put in place the rest of our remedies package that applies to veterinary businesses and accepted Undertakings from the RCVS to support these remedies.

A timetable for each of these periods is set out as follows:

Veterinary Services Market Investigation Order 2026 and Veterinary Services Market Investigation Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Undertakings 2026 published 

22 September 2026: The CMA has published the final: 

Veterinary business must now get ready to introduce these changes. The first phase of measures will come into force for larger veterinary businesses from 23 December  2026, with further remedies being introduced in phases over the following months. Smaller veterinary businesses will have longer to make changes.

We will soon be publishing an updated explainer on what veterinary businesses need to do and by when to comply with the Order.

Commenting on the milestone, Martin Coleman, Chair of the independent Inquiry Group, said:

“Today marks a significant milestone in the biggest reform of veterinary services in a generation. Our reforms are now law and will make a difference to the millions of pet owners across the UK.