Sunbeds (Regulation) Bill

My Lords, this Bill would protect children, it has government and cross-party support, and it applies to England and Wales. It is important because it would prevent children from accessing sunbeds and could enable adults to make fully informed decisions about their sunbed use. The Bill gives local enforcement officers powers to inspect salons and to penalise salon operators if under-18s are found to be using their sunbeds. The Bill also contains provisions to bring forward regulations to ensure that under-18s are not able to hire or buy sunbeds; all sunbed salons are staffed; and clear and accurate health information is displayed in all salons and other places where sunbeds are being used for commercial purposes. It also allows for such regulations to prevent operators from making unsupported claims about sunbed use benefits. I must thank Julie Morgan and Siân James for their tireless work on this important Bill in the other place and for the privilege of asking me to take it forward. I am also grateful to Cancer Research UK for its support in communicating the strong evidence base behind this Bill, and the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health, which advised on the practical implementation measures associated with the Bill. Why this Bill, and why now? In the past year, the evidence for the carcinogenic effect of sunbeds has come together conclusively. Malignant melanoma is the most common cancer in the 15 to 34 age group, and it kills more than 2,000 young people each year. In August 2009, a comprehensive meta-analysis, published in Lancet Oncology, concluded that the risk of skin melanoma, "is increased by 75 per cent when use of tanning devices starts before 30 years of age". Following this, the International Agency for Research on Cancer upgraded its assessment of sunbeds to its highest level of cancer risk. In November last year, the independent Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment-COMARE-also assessed the evidence and concluded that legislation is needed to prevent the commercial use of sunbeds by under-18s. This concurred with the same earlier conclusion from the World Health Organisation and the European Scientific Committee on Consumer Products. The US Food and Drug Administration is considering strengthening its measures on sunbeds. We now lag behind Belgium, Finland, France, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, USA, Australia and New Zealand, where specific legislation is already in place to protect under-18s from the dangers of sunbeds. Here in the UK, the Scottish Government's Public Health etc. (Scotland) Act 2008 includes a ban on under-18s using sunbeds. The Health Minister in Northern Ireland announced last week that as soon as possible he would be bringing forward strong legislation on sunbeds. The Secretary of State for Health in England and the Minister for Health and Social Services in Wales are committed to bringing regulations forward straight away when this Bill's passage is successful. There has been wide consultation on the Bill. In the other place, 215 MPs signed the EDM on under 18 year-olds and sunbeds, showing massive support 30 Mar 2010 : Column 1338 for this Bill from across all parties. This Bill is needed because voluntary regulation has failed. The Bill is proportionate to the problem. The Sunbed Association has over 1,100 members, including retailers, distributors and salons. Representatives met me to discuss the Bill and have been most helpful trying to clarify issues around regulation of the industry. It has its own code of conduct that is compatible with the Bill and has emailed me to say: "The Association totally supports the Bill, in terms of a ban on sunbed use by anyone under 18 years, and a ban on unsupervised tanning (unstaffed tanning salons). A minimum age restriction and the need for tanning salons to be manned by trained staff at all times have always been requirements in the Association's Code of Practice. Our Code also requires the provision/display of health and safety information". The association has sent me this code of practice, which is based on the European standard; it will be most helpful in drawing up guidance on implementation of this Bill. The association raises concerns that the output standard from Europe, which states that the output from a sunbed must not exceed a maximally weighted irradiance of 0.3 watts per square metre, is not universally observed. This standard is a living document which is due for revision from this June, and I know there are ongoing discussions with the industry about this. I visited a supervised salon in Cardiff recently, owned by a family with teenage children. They do not allow children to use their sunbeds and they welcome legislation as it will support their high standards of practice. Unfortunately, not all salon owners are so responsible. Many tanning salons are unsupervised or operate on only the most cursory checks, if any, on young people before letting them use the sunbeds. Cancer Research UK commissioned a piece of focus group research with under-18s in 2009. The following quotes are shocking, but far from unique: "I just walked in and she was, like, 'Have you got your coins for the machine?' and that was that", from Stoke-on-Trent; "They didn't ask my age because we went with my friend's sister", from Bushey; "I think they're just not bothered about the money and they're under-age too", from Newcastle. Research commissioned by CRUK found that more than a quarter of a million children have used sunbeds in England. Among 15 to 17 year-old girls, sunbed use was particularly high, especially in Liverpool and Sunderland, where half of the girls in this age category use sunbeds and 18 per cent of young people who have not used a sunbed would consider doing so in the future. Voluntary regulation of tanning salons has clearly failed. Professor Lesley Rhodes at Manchester University tells me they are now seeing a rapid rise in melanoma in young people and severe photodamage to skin collagen, which causes premature ageing, in early adulthood. Professor Paula Grey, director of public health in Liverpool-the city with the big problem-in welcoming the Bill and highlighting their upward trend in malignant melanoma, wrote: 30 Mar 2010 : Column 1339 "In Liverpool the voluntary code has not worked. The evidence from local surveys and questionnaires highlights that, in many salons, there is a lack of skin typing, no advice on goggles, no warnings of overuse and no age restrictions on under-16s. In Liverpool, 49 per cent of young people between the ages of 14 to 17 years are using sunbeds. Thirty per cent of young people are using them more than three times a week and this equates to 150 sessions per year-eight times the World Health Organisation's recommended adult exposure limit". The COMARE report concluded that poor compliance is found against a variety of control measures where strict legislative controls do not exist. COMARE and WHO are clear about the proportionality of stricter controls on sunbed salons. Local authorities already visit sunbed salons but at present they do not have the powers to ensure that salons are operating responsibly. The Bill would redress the balance and give them powers to ensure that under-18s are not using sunbeds and, further to the introduction of associated regulations, to ensure that a number of other good practice guidelines are adhered to. The key point is that the legislation will not place a major additional burden on local authorities in terms of extra workload as these businesses are already being inspected. Rather, it will ensure that current working is more effective and safeguard the health of young people. I should make it clear that this Bill would not prevent adults using sunbeds, but the responsible side of the industry agrees that sunbed salons should be supervised to protect children and that providing information to sunbed users should not be optional; adults need to be able to make informed choices about decisions that affect their health. Under-18s are not allowed to buy alcohol or knives, so the Bill would bring the age at which one can use commercial sunbeds in line with other age restrictions across the UK. It is practical and ensures clarity of message. In conclusion, the Bill would protect our children; it is necessary, workable and enforceable; it could save lives. I commend it to the House.