8. Conclusions

63. This historic report is the end result of the most comprehensive review of the Veterinary Surgeons Act since its inception in 1966. It sets out a coherent set of principle-based reforms which, if enacted, would allow the RCVS to function as a modern, flexible regulator fit for the 21st century.  Many of the key reforms require primary legislation, and it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the time for piecemeal change is over, and a new Veterinary Surgeons Act is now required, one that is itself sufficiently futureproof to one day beat the current VSA’s half-century on the statute book.