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Explanatory note

Original text. Later amendments are not shown.

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order is made under sections 1 and 2 of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 (c. 51). It amends Part I of Schedule 2 to the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 (c. 36).

This Order makes changes to the constitutions of the preliminary investigation committee and the disciplinary committee of the Council of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. The key changes are as follows:

(a)

committee members can no longer be members of the Council;

(b)

the minimum and maximum committee sizes are now 9 and 15 for the preliminary investigation committee and 20 and 40 for the disciplinary committee;

(c)

the committees will consist of at least a third lay persons and at least a third registered persons;

(d)

within the quorum of three for the preliminary investigation committee there is to be at least one lay person and one registered person and within the quorum of five for the disciplinary committee there is to be at least two lay persons and two registered persons;

(e)

persons registered in the supplementary veterinary register will now be treated in the same way as registered persons for the purposes of any proceedings and also in relation to their entitlement to sit on the committees;

(f)

a person may not be appointed to a committee more than twice; and

(g)

the Council may stipulate conditions as to fitness to serve as members of the committees.

This Order makes transitional provision for a period ending on 30th June 2015 and creates an initial review period of 1st July 2015 to 30th June 2018 with a subsequent review period every five years. During the transitional period members of the Council who have been elected to the committees may remain in post and there may be re-elections of those Council members to those posts.

Consequential provisions will be made by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in bye-laws including but not limited to provision for the use of panels to hear individual cases and the quorum for those panels.

A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available on the Defra website (www.defra.gov.uk) and is published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside the instrument at www.legislation.gov.uk.