Speeches by Tufnell.

“You have been taking best practice from Severn Trent for three or four years?”

“You did not do a jar testing until 28 November.”

“The report says that on-site visits and interviews were observed where best practice was not implemented. So why were you learning from best practice with Severn Trent, but not doing that internally?”

“You told the Chair that you have been in post since 2022, and obviously your role is to hold the executive to account. Are you concerned that safety was not one of the company’s values, or is not one of the company’s values?”

“Hold on a second, because you say that, but in the report you talk about gaps in operation. This is not just a gap, is it? You are not doing over half of what you are meant to be doing.”

“But it is flagged in your own report that you have got a reactive and distinctive approach to safety; so it is not part of your—”

“One of the problems that we have at the moment is that a lot of these issues span Whitehall. The Cabinet Office is responsible for the negotiation with the European Union, the Treasury has responsibility for the carbon border adjustment mechanism, and DESNZ obviously has responsibility for net zero and energy security.…”

“Yes.”

“The numbers are quite startling. In 2013, independent practices were 89% of the UK veterinary industry, but by 2021, this was at 45%. If we talk about pet care, it is worth £2 billion—you basically have a load of private equity or listed companies suddenly dominating this market. I appreciate that you identified all th…”

“What about the levy? Is there a proposal about you having a levy so that you can—”

“Could you give us a couple of words about the role that you would be expected to play? I caveat that question with the fact that we are not expecting to see this, I think, until May. Then there will obviously be a period of adaptation.”

“Does anyone want to add anything before I go on? Okay. That is really helpful. Thank you, Tim; I appreciate that. I just wanted to start off with a broad question about how you feel about what the CMA has been doing, essentially. We could start with Rob.”

“Do you think it will have a disproportionate impact on those smaller practices because of the amount of stuff that the CMA will be demanding?”

“Therefore, do you think that what the CMA has proposed will have any impact on the pricing point?”

“It seems that there is a shortfall between the funding you are getting from Government and the funding that it costs you to put an individual through vet school. For much of the time, you have been using international students to plug that shortfall. In the context of what the Home Office has been doing—we have touched…”

“But in terms of the dramatic rise?”

“Okay.”

“I guess the point is about inflation. If you look at the cost, vet prices for domestic pets have gone up by 63% since 2016, which is considerably higher than CPI inflation. In terms of undermining the credibility or that relationship with your customers as an industry, is that not concerning to you?”

“Do you want to add anything, Matt, to the discussion we have just had?”

“Can I ask one quick question on what we have just been discussing?”