Despite being classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organisation, sunbeds are used by approximately 6 million people in the UK, with almost half of them being 18-34-year-olds. The industry is governed mainly by the Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010, which prohibits use by under-18s and, in conjunction with other regulation, sets a maximum UV output equivalent to the midday Mediterranean sun.
However, the current regulatory framework has often proven inadequate, with reports of lax enforcement, unsupervised salons, and children as young as 10 gaining access.
In light of these challenges, the Government has launched a new consultation on proposals for additional regulation of commercial sunbeds in England, under the Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010. This follows calls to further regulate sunbed use from the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Beauty, Hair and Wellbeing, of which the British Beauty Council is secretariat, in its recently published report A Preventable Crisis: The Case for a National UV Safety Strategy.
The report called for a range of measures to better protect the public from the dangers of artificial UV exposure, highlighting stark data published in the British Medical Journal that sunbed use before age 35 increases melanoma risk by 59%. Recommendations published by the APPG included a total ban on sunbed advertising and the introduction of graphic health warnings on machines, similar to tobacco regulation. It also proposed that, if safety does not improve, a phase-out model be introduced, raising the legal age of use by one year, every year.
The 12 week consultation from the Department of Health & Social Care is titled Strengthening the regulation of commercial sunbeds in England and will run until the 14th of August.
Here are the areas where the Government want your views:
Supervision
Currently, some sunbed salons are unsupervised, operating coin-based, token-based or contactless payment systems. The Government is seeking views on the proposals to outlaw this practice and mandate sunbed salon supervision.
The APPG’s UV Safety report had called for exactly this intervention. It recommended a ban on all unsupervised sunbeds and a requirement for an in-person interaction on every occasion of sunbed use.
Health risks information
In line with the APPG’s report’s findings, the Government recognises that the public are under-informed on the dangers of sunbed use. It is, therefore, proposing requiring sunbed businesses to provide potential customers with clear information about the health risks involved prior to sunbed use.
While the APPG’s report called for tobacco-style skin cancer images to be displayed on sunbeds, this proposal to mandate information provision is a big step in the right direction when it comes to making skin cancer concerns known to prospective sunbed users.
Misleading claims
The consultation includes proposals to prohibit businesses from making misleading claims about the benefits of sunbed use, such as those relating to vitamin D levels and treatment of skin conditions.
The Government concurs with the APPG’s report in its concern about the prevalence of misinformation about UV safety in the public domain. This proposal would limit sunbed businesses to disseminating health benefit information prescribed by the Government.
Enforcing ban on under-18s
Legally, under-18s are already prohibited from using commercial sunbeds. However, there are still many instances where they obtain access to sunbeds, whether due to lax enforcement, absence of supervision or an existing loophole allowing businesses to sell or hire out sunbeds to under-18s for private use.
The Government is proposing to curb under-18 use by introducing mandatory ID checks in tanning salons and by prohibiting sale and rental of sunbeds to under-18s for private use.
Protective eyewear
Due to the danger of UV radiation to eye health, the consultation is seeking views on requiring salons to provide customers with protective eyewear.
What’s next
Click here to view more details about the consultation and submit your response.
In addition to this consultation, the Government will launch a call for evidence in Autumn 2026 to explore whether further action on sunbeds is needed.
In the meantime, the British Beauty Council will continue working with industry and government towards the implementation of the APPG’s UV Safety report recommendations, including further recommendations on sunbed regulation, such as a ban on sunbed advertising, a nationwide licensing scheme and a ban on tanning accelerators.
