Sunbeds (Regulation) Bill

My Lords, I welcome the opening remarks of the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, and I am delighted that she is taking this Bill through your Lordships’ House. I am happy to be speaking to it today and I repeat that the Government support it. The Bill is about tackling a public health issue and protecting young people. As a result of this Bill, people will have a greater awareness of the risks of using sunbeds and of sun damage generally. It seeks to prevent under-18 year-olds from using sunbeds by making it a criminal offence for sunbed businesses to offer them sunbeds. There are also provisions that set the scene for future regulation of sunbed use. The Government have already made clear our commitment to consult on the further regulations as soon as possible after the Bill passes. I join the noble Baroness in thanking Julie Morgan MP and Siân James MP for their work in getting the Bill through another place where it was clear that it had cross-party support. I am pleased to see that this is reflected in your Lordships’ House today. Quite simply, the Bill could save lives. The noble Baroness has already outlined the scientific evidence and other noble Lords have given us the benefit of research. I do not intend to repeat all that, but it clearly shows that the evidence is there that sunbeds are a health risk when misused, and the risks are greater for young people. That is why there is a case for legislation. Skin cancer is on the rise. Estimates suggest that skin cancer rates will triple over the next 20 to 30 years. Malignant melanoma is the most common cancer in young adults aged 15 to 34. One study estimated that melanomas from sunbed use cause around 100 deaths a year in the UK. The International Agency for Research on Cancer now classifies the use of sunbeds in its highest risk category, category 1—carcinogenic to humans. That is the same category as tobacco. Research commissioned by Cancer Research UK found that in England 6 per cent of 11 to 17 year-olds had used sunbeds. These findings show that voluntary self-regulation by the industry has not worked and point to the need for legislation. The evidence is clear and I hope noble Lords will agree that this is an important piece of legislation that will contribute to improving cancer outcomes and reduce the incidence of skin cancer. However, the dangers from using sunbeds are not only linked to skin cancer; as noble Lords have mentioned, there are other health conditions such as eye damage, photosensitivity and premature skin ageing. Short-term ideas of beauty can have severe long-term costs. We need to challenge the idea that being tanned means being beautiful. As someone who is very light-skinned and burns easily in the sun—I get my sunhat out at the first sign of sunlight—I think it is important that we challenge this on the grounds that we can show that we are not prematurely aged because we protect ourselves from the sun. The Bill will raise awareness of the dangers of using sunbeds and protect young people. In response to the questions put by the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, we will be working closely with the representatives of local authorities about all the issues to do with enforcement. Indeed, we have been liaising closely with the Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services regarding the costs of enforcing the Bill, and the costs were quoted on the basis of estimates provided by LACORS in the impact assessment that goes with the Bill. Obviously, much of the enforcement work can be carried out as part of routine inspection activity, and compliance and enforcement visits can be carried out on a risk-assessment basis. Both the noble Baroness and the noble Earl mentioned the issue of raising awareness. The department has been involved in the SunSmart campaign for several years now, a campaign that is done jointly with stakeholders such as Cancer Research UK and which is designed to raise awareness of the risks of radiation and the risks linked to that from sunbeds. If the Bill is passed, it will ensure that there is a specific focus on sunbeds in future campaigns. The noble Earl spoke about the regulation-making powers regarding sale or hire. There will be consultation on this because it is a statutory obligation. The noble Earl raised several questions about advertising. The noble Lord, Lord Smith of Finsbury, also wrote to me about precisely this matter. I reassure the noble Earl and the noble Lord that we will ensure that regulation-making powers, particularly under Clause 5(3), and associated enforcement activity do not duplicate legislation or enforcement regimes that are already in place and are already working well. We will not compromise the important role of the Advertising Standards Agency in this matter. The noble Earl made an interesting and useful suggestion, which we should like to consider, about how to integrate the different regimes as we move forward. We will take note of that and investigate it. We are taking regulation-making powers on this but we will not be duplicating existing regulations, so we do not think that Clause 5 is unnecessary. I hope that that will reassure the noble Earl. I am pleased to give the Government’s support to the Bill. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, for championing it through your Lordships’ House, and I wish it well as it moves forward.