Updated on
07th May 2025
The Scottish Government has confirmed it will 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, published yesterday (May 6).
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.
More information will be made available as the Bill progresses through Parliament.
Commenting on the news, Babtac chief executive Lesley Blair MBE said, “This announcement is a huge step forward for client safety and professional standards.
"We will continue to support and advise both 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.”
The announcement of the bill follows a consultation into a licensing scheme for non-surgical aesthetic procedures.
• 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 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 mesotherapy and radiofrequency would require oversight of a healthcare professional if the framework were to go ahead in the format laid out for consultation.
Meanwhile procedures such as electrolysis, traditionally carried out by advanced beauty therapists, would be reclassified as safe for medics only.
It has not yet been confirmed which treatments would fall into which classifications when regulations came into force.
