Council was asked to approve delegations of certain powers from the council to RCVS committees.

Members torn over the registration of new degrees

The registration of new degrees proved to be the subject of debate at the latest RCVS Council meeting, where members were divided over whether to delegate this power to the education committee.

Council was asked to approve delegations of certain powers from the council to RCVS committees. Among these was the ability to 'make decisions on recognition of registrable veterinary degrees.'

Councillor Richard Stephenson called for this to be removed from the paper as the registration of new degrees is a "contentious issue" and these decisions should be made "openly and publicly".

He said: "The issue is whether the standard of the degree meets the standard that the council has decided upon. Therefore ultimately council ought to have the authority to make the decision."

This was strongly contested by Professor James Wood, a university-appointed member of council.

"I think it's a statement of fact that the evaluation of degrees is a technical issue and it's not something that…council should have a view on that's more informed than the education committee," he said, adding that the suggested amendment was "just wrong".

Other council members were torn on the issue, with Professor Stephen May saying he could argue the case either way - for delegating all powers to the committee, or keeping them within the council.

However, he said to split the decision-making for new and existing degrees "sends a terrible message" to new schools.

"If the expertise is there at education committee to be able to look at the structure and delivery of a programme, that applies equally to a new or an existing degree," he said.

"It's almost making politics out of new degrees to suggest it's retained to council."

Whilst similarly torn, Lynne Hill argued it may be better for council to make the final decision from a "security" and "liability" perspective.

Council members voted against the idea of bringing a second paper back to the next council meeting and, despite a fairly lengthy debate, voted to delegate the recognition of new degrees to the education committee.

In a separate vote, all other proposed delegations to the other committees were also agreed.

Image © RCVS