Personal Care Services: Regulation
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made on the suitability of a regulatory body for aestheticians.
Answered by Karin Smyth
The Government is committed to addressing longstanding concerns around the safety of the cosmetics sector. In August 2025, the Government announced its plans to introduce legal restrictions which will ensure that the highest risk cosmetic procedures are brought into Care Quality Commission regulation and can only be performed by specified regulated healthcare professionals.
In addition, the Government has also committed to legislating to introduce a licensing scheme in England for lower risk procedures through powers granted through the Health and Care Act 2022. Under this scheme, which will be operated by local authorities, practitioners will be required to obtain a licence to perform specified cosmetic procedures, and the premises from which they operate will also need to be licensed.
Whilst all cosmetic procedures carry some risk, these measures will ensure that practitioners are suitably trained, qualified, insured, and working in safe and appropriate environments for the procedures they offer. This will enable the public to be confident that procedures will be performed to a high standard and that there are reliable systems of redress in the event of something going wrong.
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