RCVS to consult with professions and public on new ‘good governance’ proposals

The RCVS is, from Monday 10 June 2024, consulting with the veterinary professions, veterinary and veterinary nursing students and the animal-owning public on our new ‘good governance’ proposals, which seek to better align the College with regulatory norms, while recognising the unique position of the RCVS as a royal college that regulates.

The good governance proposals seek to modernise the current composition of, and appointment processes for, RCVS Council, our main governing and decision-making body, as well as Veterinary Nurses (VN) Council, which makes key decisions on matters relating to the education and registration of VNs. The proposed changes would aim to ensure that we have in place governance structures that best support our mission to ‘enhance society through improved animal health and welfare’.

The proposed changes are:

• Fully-appointed governing bodies: this would include ending the current system of annual elections of veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses to RCVS Council and VN Council respectively. In its place would be an independent merit-and-skills-based appointment system.
• Greater lay representation: in order to assure the public that the RCVS, as the regulator, is not ‘setting and marking its own homework’, it is proposed that there should be either parity or near parity between laypeople and members of the veterinary professions on RCVS Council and VN Council.
• Building in flexibility: while the majority of the veterinary professionals on RCVS Council would be veterinary surgeons, the proposals say that, in addition to veterinary nurse representation, there should be in-built flexibility to allow veterinary paraprofessionals such as veterinary technicians, musculoskeletal therapists, clinical animal behaviourists and equine dental technicians and cattle foot trimmers to be members of RCVS Council. These professions have been identified as requiring regulation by the RCVS.
• Separating the Chair of RCVS Council from the presidency: the role of RCVS President as the ‘face’ of the College during their one-year term would continue but would be separated from the role of Chair of RCVS Council. The Chair of Council could instead be appointed for a longer period of time than the presidential term and so offer greater continuity in terms of governance.
• Removal of Veterinary Schools Council (VSC) appointees: as the representative body for UK veterinary schools, the VSC currently has three directly-appointed members on RCVS Council, which is contrary to the independent appointment model. The proposals recommend that VSC appointees should be removed from Council and that, instead, it would be ensured that there would be appropriate levels of educationalist expertise on the RCVS Education Committee and on RCVS Council via the independent appointment process.
• Reducing the size of VN Council: it is proposed that the membership of VN Council should be reduced from 14 to 12 members in line with regulatory norms and to ensure that there is a focus on strategy and governance while maintaining a broad range of knowledge and experience. RCVS Council would retain its current 24-member size.

The good governance proposals are part of our overall legislative reform agenda in which it is seeking to replace the outdated 1966 Veterinary Surgeons Act (VSA) with new and more modern, flexible and forward-looking legislation, which would expand our regulatory remit to encompass veterinary practice premises and paraprofessionals, while empowering veterinary nurses and creating a new fitness to practise system.

Our President Dr Sue Paterson FRCVS (pictured) explains: “The current governance structure of the RCVS is set by the VSA and updating our governance systems is a vital prerequisite to getting new primary legislation, as the outdated and out-of-step nature of our current arrangements will be clear to see.

“Governance may not be the most exciting topic, but it is the foundation on which all other aspects of the College’s work rests. As a professional regulator with animal health and welfare at our heart, the RCVS has a duty to ensure that our arrangements best serve the public on whose behalf we are entrusted to regulate and uphold veterinary standards, while still maintaining veterinary input in all our decision-making processes.

“We believe these good governance proposals help us meet this mission, ensuring that we are bringing our governance in line with regulatory norms, while still recognising our unique role as a dual regulator and royal college. The proposals would also help us get the best talent with the right skillsets and experience to serve on RCVS Council, VN Council and our committees, drawing on both laypeople and the broad sweep of the veterinary professions.

“We acknowledge that there has been some disquiet over the fact that, under these proposals, we would no longer be holding the annual elections to either RCVS Council or VN Council. However, we believe that an independent, fair and skills-based appointment process would be a superior way of selecting the membership of RCVS Council and VN Council than the elections which, unfortunately, the vast majority of the veterinary professions do not currently engage in, and which risk creating the impression that the RCVS is some sort of representative organisation.

“We look forward to hearing the considered views of the professions and public regarding our good governance proposals and will carefully review the feedback we receive.”

Belinda Andrews-Jones RVN, current Chair of VN Council, adds: “In many ways VN Council is ahead of the curve in terms of governance reform with a smaller number of members and two independently-appointed veterinary nurse members – of which I am one – as well as appointed lay members.

“I can personally vouch for the robust nature of the application and independent appointment process for VN Council and how it took into account what I had to offer to the role in terms of my skills, my knowledge and my experience.

“I would like to thank my fellow members of VN Council, including my elected peers, for their positive engagement with the good governance proposals and their recognition that these reforms aren’t about reducing scrutiny of the College or the amount of challenge to its decisions, but about improving outcomes for the public, their animals and the professions at large.”

The good governance recommendations have been drawn up on the basis of the Law Commission’s 2014 Report ‘Regulation of Health and Social Care Professionals’, the recommendations from which were adopted by the UK government as being the ‘regulatory norm’.

Any future independent appointment processes for RCVS Council and VN Council would also be based on the Professional Standards Authority’s key appointment principles of merit, fairness, transparency and openness and having a process that inspires confidence.

The full good governance proposals can be found on the consultation's dedicated webpage. The deadline for completing the consultation is Monday 22 July 2024.

Furthermore, between 7pm and 8pm on Tuesday 11 June 2024 we will be hosting a Zoom webinar called Ensuring good governance – introducing our consultation. This webinar will be chaired by Sue Paterson with a panel including Lizzie Lockett, our CEO; Eleanor Ferguson, our Registrar; and Ben Myring, our Policy and Public Affairs Manager. A recording of the webinar will be made available for those note able to attend live.