Setting out a vision for strategic action: the next steps

The Government's long-awaited Health and Care Act will be formally enacted in July 2022 and received Royal assent on 28 April 2022. The Act will include the following clause:

‘Licensing of cosmetic procedures

(1) The Secretary of State may, for the purposes of reducing the risk of harm to the health or safety of members of the public, make regulations—

1. (a) prohibiting an individual in England from carrying out specified cosmetic procedures in the course of business, unless the person has a personal licence;

2. (b) prohibiting a person from using or permitting the use of premises in England for the carrying out of specified cosmetic procedures in the course of business, unless the person has a premises licence.

(2) In this section—

‘cosmetic procedure’ means a procedure, other than a surgical or dental procedure, that is or may be carried out for cosmetic purposes; and the reference to a procedure includes—

(a) the injection of a substance;