To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that companies offering tattoos and/or tattoo removal are regulated and inspected by (a) the Healthcare Commission and (b) the new Care Quality Commission. (207842)

Regulation of tattooing and skin piercing is carried out by local authorities.

The Healthcare Commission does not regulate tattooing businesses. It currently regulates tattoo removals which are carried out surgically or by using class 3B or 4 laser equipment.

The Department is currently consulting on the scope of activities to be included in the Care Quality Commission’s registration scheme for health and social care, and this consultation will run until 17 June.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints his Department has received from patients who had been treated in tattoo and tattoo removal facilities in the UK in (a) the last 12 months and (b) the last five years. (207843)

The Department has received a number of representations about tattoos, tattoo removals and related issues. However, it is more likely that a person who was not satisfied with their tattoo or tattoo removal procedure would complain in the first instance to the provider of that service, and then to local agencies such as the local authority, or the Healthcare Commission in the case of tattoo removals involving surgery or laser equipment, rather than directing their complaint to the Department.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to ensure that clinics offering tattoos and/or tattoo removals meet high standards of clinical quality and consumer protection. (207844)

Regulation of tattooing and skin piercing is carried out by local authorities (LAs). The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, as amended by the Local Government Act 2003, gives LAs powers to require tattooing and cosmetic piercing businesses in their area to register and observe byelaws on hygiene and cleanliness. It is an offence for such a business to trade without being registered with the LA or to breach local byelaws.

LAs in London generally use the London Local Authorities Act 1991 (private legislation) which provides for a licensing scheme for businesses providing special treatments such as tattooing and cosmetic piercing. It is an offence to trade without being licensed or to breach licence conditions.

LAs also have general enforcement powers under health and safety at work legislation. This allows LAs to use improvement and prohibition notices, and ultimately prosecute tattooing and piercing businesses, if appropriate. Taken together with Healthcare Commission regulation of surgical tattoo removals and, currently, tattoo removals involving lasers, mean that there is protection for people who choose to use these services.