Sunbeds (Regulation) Bill

I need to make progress, given the time factor. I will now speak to amendments 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, which all relate to the reduction of the proposed age from 18 to 16. The World Health Organisation, the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment, which I will refer to as COMARE from now on, and the Scientific Committee on Consumer Products to the European Commission, have all recommended that under-18s be prevented from using sunbeds for cosmetic purposes. Setting the age limit at 18 is clearly in line with these recommendations. Scotland already has legislation on the use of sunbeds, and it sets the age at 18. It is also worth mentioning that in Europe, France, Germany, Finland and Spain all ban people under 18 from using sunbeds. Of course, there is other legislation that imposes age restrictions and that has been raised in the debate on the amendments this morning. The Government do not support the proposed reduction of the age limit from 18 to 16. Amendment 8 seeks to remove clause 3 from the Bill. Clause 3 provides for an exemption from the duties in clause 2 that prevent sunbed use by under-18s when the treatment is for medical purposes. There may be some medical complaints—some skin problems, for example—for which the use of a sunbed is advised as part of treatment. COMARE and the World Health Organisation recommend that medical treatment should take place in clinical settings under clinical supervision. However, it is important that that medical exemption should not be used by sunbed businesses to circumvent compliance with the duties in respect of the main offence in clause 2. For the exemption to apply, the medical treatment must be under the supervision or direction of a registered medical practitioner such as a licensed doctor. It must also take place on a sunbed in, or provided by, a "healthcare establishment"—a hospital, for example—and the sunbed must be used only for the purposes of medical treatment. This is a very tightly drawn exemption, and rightly so. The Government acknowledge that there will be situations in which the therapeutic use of sunbeds for under-18s is necessary for medical reasons. For that reason, a medical exemption is necessary and the tightly drawn conditions required for the exemption to apply are appropriate. Amendment 15 seeks to delete clause 4(4). Clause 4 contains some regulation-making powers, some of which require mandatory consultation with interested parties before the regulations are made. If the Bill receives Royal Assent, there will be a year before it comes into force. That period can be used effectively to consult on some of the proposed regulations. The effect of amendment 15 would be to remove the confirmation that the consultation before the Bill comes into force is the effective mandatory consultation required by the Bill. Amendment 16 seeks to omit clause 5 from the Bill. Clause 5 allows regulations to be made that require any person carrying on a sunbed business to provide and display information about the health risks of using sunbeds to those who use or may seek to use one. Regulations may ban sunbed businesses from providing or displaying any material containing statements relating to the health effects of sunbed use, other than information prescribed by regulations. All users of sunbeds should be aware of the health risks involved in using sunbeds. It is right that there should be regulations. It is also right that users should not be misled. COMARE recommendations are that information on the health risks associated with the use of sunbeds must be provided to users, and that commercial outlets and sunbed retailers should be prohibited from using information promoting unproven health benefits of sunbed use. The World Health Organisation guidance says that claims of health benefits should not be made in the promotion of sunbeds. Clause 5 is in line with recommendations, and therefore the Government do not support amendment 15. Amendment 31 relates to clause 10(2)(a), which allows for regulations made under the Act to""make different provision for different cases or different areas."" It is a standard provision seen in connection with all modern regulation-making powers and means that regulations made under the powers in the Bill do not have to make a single, blanket provision but can be adapted for different areas and circumstances. Amendments 10, 11 and 12 would amend clause 11 and they would attach the affirmative procedure to all regulations made under the Bill. That procedure is already attached to all such regulations save for those made under clauses 5 and 6—the latter of which is on protective eyewear—when they do not create an offence, increase the penalty for an offence or include enforcement provisions. In practice, that means that the vast majority of regulations will already require debate. The small proportion that will not are those containing details that, although important, do not justify taking up parliamentary time by automatically requiring approval after a debate. Considering amendments to a Bill is always a useful exercise in reviewing its provisions and determining what purpose they serve and whether they are necessary. I believe it is clear from what has been said that the provisions of this Bill have been carefully considered and that each subsection has been drafted for a specific and very useful purpose. I therefore ask the hon. Member for Christchurch to withdraw the clause.