HC Deb 30 July 1975 vol 896 cc530-1W
Mr. Hardy

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he can now make a statement on the report of the committee of inquiry into the veterinary profession.

Mr. Peart

The report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Veterinary Profession was laid before Parliament and published yesterday (Cmnds 6143 and 6143–1). My right hon. Friends and I would like to thank Sir Michael Swann and the members of the committee for their comprehensive and extremely valuable review of the veterinary profession, its activities and training. No other report has dealt so fully with so wide a range of matters of such importance to veterinary science in the United Kingdom.

The report surveys the structure, functions and size of the profession, looks at the use made of the veterinary surgeon's skills, considers extensions to his rôle, and examines veterinary education and research. My right hon. Friends and I will be consulting the interests concerned about the recommendations, many of which will require detailed study and have implications for the longer rather than the shorter term. They will need to be considered against the background of the general economic situation, including the resources available.

We agree with the committee that greater emphasis needs to be placed on the prevention of animal disease and its significance for public health. Their proposals on preventive veterinary medicine are a most interesting and valuable contribution to the thinking on this subject and we shall study them with great care.

We shall also carefully examine, in consultation with the profession, the committee's proposals for the greater use of lay assistants. The report rightly emphasises the need to safeguard the interests of clients and the animals themselves.

We welcome the attention that the committee have paid to undergraduate as well as postgraduate veterinary education, including refresher courses, and to veterinary research. My right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Education and Science and the Secretary of State for Scotland, the University Grants Committee, the Agricultural Research Council and the university veterinary schools will be giving these matters their consideration.

We are also giving urgent consideration to those recommendations concerning the future size of the profession.

Some of the committee's suggestions for improving recruitment to the State Veterinary Service have already been adopted and are beginning to show results; the others are being studied carefully.