The Farriers Registration Bill has now passed into law as the Farriers Registration Act.

This new statute is the product of a five year consultation between farriery professionals, equine owners, the public and the Government.

The act delivers much needed modernisation to the consultation of the FRC, which has been the regulatory body for farriery in Great Britain for 42 years.

Now powers for the investigation and discipline functions of the council will be separated and council members will no longer be able to adjudicate on the application of policy in pursuit of complaints.

Other key constitutional improvements include limiting council members to two periods of four years only on the council.

This will attend to the weakness in regulatory bodies, described by Lord Paul Bew in his report on regulatory bodies in 2016 as the ‘revolving door’.

The Chairman of the FRC, Tony Charlwood, said: “The FRC is grateful to all those who contributed to an extensive consultation with Government.

"The product is a modernised statute which will set a sound platform for regulation of farriery in the early to mid-21st Century.

"All those with an interest in the effective regulation of farriery are indebted to Byron Davies MP, for sponsoring the bill in the House of Commons, and to the Earl of Caithness for sponsoring the bill in the House of Lords."

Kevin Willard, British Farriers and Blacksmiths’ Association executive committee member, said: “The new act is long overdue, it will ensure the essential fairness that must be at the heart of the investigation and discipline system.

"Farriers have recognised this and have played a significant part in bringing about these improvements”.