Government representation group for aesthetics will push for regulation and therapist accessibility

The aesthetics sector could be one step closer to becoming regulated and more accessible for beauty therapists, as an all party-parliamentary group (APPG) has been established to represent the industry in Government. 

The APPG is chaired by Carolyn Harris, Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour and Judith Cummins, Shadow Minister for International Trade. 

It was formed to show that MPs recognise the challenges facing the aesthetics sector and will recommend on policy decision to Government going forward.

The group’s formation was announced at a Westminster Hall debate on the medical aesthetics sector on May 14, where MPs called for a minimum age law of 18 to stop young people having cosmetic procedures, echoing the Department for Health and Social Care’s recent consumer safety campaign.  

During the debate and speaking to minister for health and social care Jackie Doyle-Price, Cummins said: “On training and regulation for beauticians – non-medical people who constitute around 50,000 jobs in the UK economy – there is huge appetite and support within the industry for proper and appropriate regulation, and there is recognition of the urgent need for that. 

“However, there are no regulated qualifications available for non-medical practitioners for injectables at the moment. Going forward, does the Minister think there will be some kind of progression route for beauticians to go into this kind of industry, so that we can guarantee proper standards for the consumer?”

Doyle-Price responded: “My first focus of activity is those organisations that train people in these procedures, because I can see a situation in which a beautician will have paid thousands of pounds to go on a course and will then think that they are qualified, but they might not be.

“That is where we need to bring the focus of regulation in the first instance, so that when somebody proudly displays their certificates, consumers can have some guarantee that they are legitimate.”

In the previous parlimentary debate on non-surgical treatments in February, the Government admitted there was "some way to go" towards regulation reform.