Scottish Government reclassifies several beauty treatments in response to consultation on aesthetic treatment regulation

Scottish Government reclassifies several beauty treatments in response to consultation on aesthetic treatment regulation

Updated on 26th Jun 2025

The Scottish Government has reclassified several beauty treatments in its response to the consultation on the regulation and licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures.

Following the consultation, which ran from December to February, several procedures have been moved from Group 2 or 3 into Group 1, meaning they would be viewed as comparatively low risk and would not require oversight of a medical practitioner. 

These reclassified treatments include:

  • Radiofrequency
  • High frequency ultrasound (for non-intimate use)
  • Photorejuvenation
  • Fruit peel or glycolic acid chemical peels that affect only the viable epidermis or outer layer of skin
  • Cryolipolysis
  • Cryotherapy
  • Electrocautery (advanced electrolysis)

These join the treatments that already sat within Group 1 in the original proposal:

  • Microneedling to a depth of 1.5mm
  • Laser hair and tattoo removal
  • Laser treatments for acne scarring, sun damage and treatment of skinlesions (but only non-ablative treatments)
  • IPL and LED therapies

Commenting on the changes, Babtac chair Lesley Blair, who is part of the Scottish Government's Interventions Expert Group, said, "This now reflects a proportionate approach to regulation without impacting client safety and professional standards, which is imperative for the future of the sector in Scotland.

She added, "This is a very positive step forward and Babtac will continue to support and advise both the Scottish and the wider UK government with insights and recommendations to ensure the final Bill is valid, robust and enforceable, while allowing provision for ongoing evaluation.”

When will aesthetic new regulations come into force in Scotland?

On May 6, the Scottish Government confirmed it would introduce a Non-surgical Cosmetic Procedures Bill to regulate certain aesthetic treatments.

The Bill was confirmed as part of the Scottish government's Year Five Legislative Programme in the Programme for Government 2025-26: Building The Best Future For Scotland.

The document stated, "This Bill will regulate the delivery of certain non-surgical procedures offered for cosmetic or lifestyle purposes to support the safety of those who undergo the procedures.

"The Bill will ensure that certain procedures are required to be delivered from suitable premises registered with an appropriate body, and will make provision to support the enforcement of appropriate standards for service providers."

The Bill will be introduced to Scottish Parliament before May 2026 and a timeline for its enforcement will be agreed.

When was aesthetic treatment regulation in Scotalnd first announced?

The announcement of the bill followed a consultation into a licensing scheme for non-surgical aesthetic procedures. 

The consultation, which can be viewed here, opened on December 20, 2024, and closed on February 14, 2025. 
 
In a similar format to the England consultation which ran from September to October 2023, the Scottish government consultation broke down the procedures into three key groups:
 
• Group 1 means the procedure can be carried out in a licensed premises or HIS regulated setting by a trained and licensed practitioner who is not a healthcare professional.
 
• Group 2 should only be done in an HIS-regulated setting by a trained practitioner who is not a healthcare professional, but such practitioners should be supervised by an appropriate healthcare professional.
 
• Group 3 should be done in a HIS-regulated setting and only by an appropriate healthcare professional.
 
The original proposed framework included the following treatments in Group 1: microneedling, chemical peels that only affect the outermost level of skin, IPL, LED therapy, lasers for tattoo removal, laser hair removal.
 
Treatments in Group 2 were proposed as including: mesotherapy, botulinum toxin injections, dermal fillers and any other injections of a product, even if it is not a drug or toxin, for lifestyle or cosmetic purposes. 
 
Group 2 also included medium-depth peels, photo rejuvenation, radiofrequency, HIFU and cryolipolisis.
 
Meanwhile the proposed Group 3 line-up included PRP and other blood-derived injections, injection microsclerotherapy, Injection lipolysis, dermal micro coring, hay fever injections, any IV procedure, dermal fillers for augmentation (e.g. liquid BBL), deeper chemical peels such as phenol peels, laser treatments that target the deeper dermis, carboxytherapy, Cellulite subcision, electrocautery (advanced electrolysis), cryotherapy and cryocautery, Thread lifts.
 
Group 3 also covers all group 1 or 2 procedures if carried out in an intimate area (except hair removal and not including procedures such as tattooing and skin piercing which are already licenced).
 
As with the England consultation, beauty professionals expressed concern that comparatively low-risk procedures such as HIFU and radiofrequency would require oversight of a healthcare professional if the framework had gone ahead in the format initially laid out for consultation, while procedures such as electrolysis, traditionally carried out by advanced beauty therapists, would have been reclassified as safe for medics only. 
 
Therefore, the Scottish government's reclassification of many of these treatments, following the consultation, has been welcomed by the industry and is widely regarded as a positive move that will set a standard for regulation via a model that could potentially be replicated in the rest of the UK.
Eve Oxberry

Eve Oxberry

Published 26th Jun 2025

Eve Oxberry is head of editorial for Professional Beauty and Aesthetic Medicine magazines and editor on PB. She oversees the company's print, web and social media content and writes reviews, news, features and more. Eve has been a business journalist for over 20 years and has specialised in the beauty, spa and aesthetics sector for the majority of that time.

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