Consultation: Strengthening the regulation of commercial sunbeds in England, Department of Health and Social Care
What is the main advice?
- Children and young people will be stopped from using sunbeds through mandatory ID checks under new laws being consulted on by the government.
- These new proposals would require staff to be present and to check a customer’s ID before they can use a sunbed.
- The tougher rules also include the need for health warnings to be displayed clearly, and the banning of dangerous claims that sunbeds help with weight loss or prevent sunburn.
- Under-18s are currently barred from using sunbeds, but teenagers can get around this by using contactless systems without any checks by staff.
- The 12-week consultation on introducing the new regulations is open until 14 August 2026.
EXPERT THOUGHT
Professor Peter Johnson, national clinical director for cancer at NHS England, said: ‘Sunbeds… are a cancer risk and under-18s should not be using them at all. These proposals would help prevent unscrupulous operators from providing sunbeds to children and make sure that adults understand the risks before they use one.’
Image | ISTOCK
