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Veterinary Services

Asked by Samantha NiblettLabourDepartment for Business and TradeTabled Answered 17 December 2025UIN 99006

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of vertical integration within large veterinary groups, including ownership of pharmacies, laboratories, out-of-hours providers, crematoria and referral centres on market competition and consumer choice.

Answered by Kate Dearden

Responsibility for investigating individual and market-wide competition issues, including vertical integration, falls to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as the UK’s independent competition authority.

The CMA is currently conducting a market investigation into veterinary services for household pets.

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