This Order gives effect to the Charity Commission’s scheme for the administration of the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (“the Society”), a charity regulated by the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals Acts of 1949 and 1956.

The scheme broadens the objects of the Society so that: it can provide veterinary treatment at reduced rates, as well as free treatment, for animals whose owners cannot afford to pay full veterinary fees; it can provide preventative treatment, care and advice; it can educate the public in animal health and welfare; and it can pursue the advancement of animal welfare for the public benefit by any other means. The scheme also extends the Society’s investment powers and amends a provision, which identifies who may audit the Society’s accounts by reference to the Companies Act 1948, so that it refers instead to broadly comparable provisions of the Companies Act 2006.

These changes are brought about by amending the relevant provisions in the 1949 and 1956 Acts, and this Order gives effect to those amendments. Since the 1949 and 1956 Acts are local Acts, the applicable Parliamentary procedure is that specified in section 73(3) of the Charities Act 2011.

An impact assessment has not been produced for this Order as no impact on the private or wider voluntary sectors is foreseen.