The Health and Care Act 2022, which received royal assent in April, gave the Government powers to bring forward a licensing scheme for beauty practitioners who operate in England. This will be introduced in via secondary legislation and, once in force, will make it an offence to perform particular procedures without a license.

However, details around how the licensing scheme will work is to be decided by separate legislation in the coming years, with the British Beauty Council working alongside the Joint Council for Cosmetics Practitioners and others to assist in drafting this legislation with Government.

In order to make the process of transition seamless, the Council is launching a series of tools intended to equip practitioners and consumers with all the information for best practice whilst performing and undergoing procedures now; as well as what might be to come.

The new tools include:

• ‘The future of aesthetics – what we know about the upcoming licensing regulation’ webinar;
• the practitioner ‘must know’ Q&A;
• the consumer ‘must know’ Q&A; and
• ‘Top tips for anyone looking to have a non-surgical cosmetic (aesthetic) procedure’;

These can all be found on the British Beauty Council website here.

“Alongside trade bodies from across the beauty and aesthetics industry, we have come together to inform people working across the sector and the general public on forthcoming legislation to better regulate those offering non-surgical cosmetic procedures, also known as aesthetic procedures”

– British Beauty Council COO, Helena Grzesk MBE.

Commencing with a webinar featuring some of the most informed experts in this area, the Council will to bring the conversation to life and help spread the word on the future licensing around aesthetics.

Victoria Brownlie, Chief Policy Officer at the British Beauty Council commented “As an industry worth billions (last valued at £3.6 billion in 2015 and growing year on year) it is important to ensure those choosing treatments can do so safely and with confidence. The legislation is being introduced to reduce the risk of harm to the public caused by badly performed non-surgical cosmetic procedures and ensure a level playing field on standards of practice.

“However, a lot of misinformation has been bandied about around what will and won’t be included in the license. The pure fact is that there is still much to be decided. But what we do know, we have outlined in the webinar and Q&As and will of course continue to update as we continue our work with Government on this.”  

An initial consultation on the scope of the license is expected later this year. The Scottish Government has recently announced its intention to update its laws around non-surgical cosmetic procedures too.