What’s Happening and When?

With key provisions scheduled to come into force on 6 September 2027, the Scottish Government has published new guidance detailing the definition of “permitted premises,” clarifying where practitioners will be legally allowed to administer treatments such as botulinum toxins and dermal fillers.

The new rules sit as part of two primary pieces of legislation designed to raise safety standards and establish clear regulatory oversight within the aesthetics sector in Scotland. These are:

The Non-surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Act 2026: This restricts the specified procedures listed here to permitted settings, such as regulated independent clinics with designated healthcare professionals available. The Act also introduces a statutory ban on administering these procedures to anyone under the age of 18.

The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Non-Surgical Procedures) Order 2026: This establishes a local-authority-administered licensing framework for lower-risk aesthetic procedures.

Ahead of the September 2027 enforcement date, the Scottish Government is collaborating with local authorities and Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to prepare regulatory bodies, develop compliance guidance for businesses, and assess whether additional secondary legislation is necessary.

What is Classified as a Permitted Premises?

Within its latest update, the Scottish Government has released a Permitted Premises Explainer defining a permitted premise as an independent clinic that ticks two mandatory boxes:

1. Registered with Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS)
2. Staffed or managed by at least one of the following healthcare professionals:

• Doctor
• Dentist
• Independent Prescribing Nurse
• Independent Prescribing Midwife
• Independent Prescribing Pharmacist

This means, if you are one of the 5 prescribers above, you can carry out procedures as long as your clinic is registered with HIS and meets HIS standards. You do not need another healthcare professional involved.

However, if you are a non-prescribing professional (e.g. paramedic, standard nurse) or a non-medic aesthetics / beauty practitioner, you can only perform those procedures identified within the scope of the regulations within a HIS-registered clinic that has one of the 5 eligible prescribers managing it or working alongside you.

Business owners that are not healthcare practitioners can still own businesses offering these procedures. However, the physical clinic must still be registered with HIS, and one of the 5 qualifying prescribers must work there or manage services there.

Next Steps

While current arrangements remain legally valid until 6 September 2027, businesses and practitioners are being advised to use the transition period to look at clinic structures, supervisory models, and facility registration.

The Scottish Government has confirmed that further work is underway to define formal education, training, and supervision standards, alongside planned restrictions to reserve the highest-risk aesthetic procedures exclusively for qualified healthcare professionals.

The British Beauty Council will continue to feed into and monitor these developments, providing industry updates as the Scottish Government proceeds with this work.

To find out more about the Council’s work to secure much needed regulation in the aesthetics sector, click here.