Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of consolidation in the veterinary sector on veterinary costs for pet owners.

Defra considers the establishing and an agreement of fees to be a private agreement between the vet and the client. If unsatisfied the client can take their custom elsewhere; thus setting the market in which the veterinary business has to compete. The Competition and Markets Authority is the UK's principal competition authority, responsible among other things for enforcing the law against anti-competitive practices, and investigating mergers that could reduce competition.