FOI/202600529266 · FOI · not held
Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) regulations in relation to non-surgical aesthetic procedures: FOI release
Information requested
Information concerning the proposed application of Healthcare Improvement Scotland registration requirements to businesses providing non-surgical aesthetic procedures.
You noted this should include:
1. Recorded policy, legal or operational advice concerning whether an independent aesthetic practitioner affected by the forthcoming secondary legislation may: become the registered provider of the service; own or control a company registered as the provider; remain the sole proprietor of an existing aesthetics business; manage the registered service; and retain control of the business, premises, staff, income, equipment, client records and goodwill.
2. Records explaining the intended status and responsibilities of the healthcare professional connected with the registered service, including whether that person must be: the registered provider; the owner or controlling person of the provider organisation; the registered manager; an employee or contractor; or a person holding practising privileges.
3. Any assessment of what would happen to the HIS registration and the business’s ability to continue operating if the healthcare professional: resigned or withdrew their services; became unavailable; lost their professional registration or prescribing status; or declined to continue accepting responsibility for the service.
4. Any business, competition, equality, regulatory or economic assessment concerning the possibility that an independent aesthetic practitioner could become commercially or operationally dependent upon a healthcare professional in order to continue operating an established business.
5. Any assessment of the possible effects of the proposed arrangements upon: ownership and control of existing businesses; operating costs; bargaining power between the business owner and healthcare professional; continuity of trading; business goodwill and saleability; employment and self-employment; the ability of affected businesses to obtain or retain the required healthcare professional; and the effect upon predominantly female-owned or female-operated small businesses.
6. Copies of correspondence, meeting records, briefings and submissions exchanged between the Scottish Government and Healthcare Improvement Scotland from 1 January 2023 to the date of this request concerning: who may own, register, manage or control an affected aesthetics business; the organisational or contractual relationship required between the existing business owner and the healthcare professional; the effect of withdrawal or replacement of the healthcare professional; and the commercial dependence of an existing business upon that person.
7. Copies of any proposed guidance, business models, organisational structures or example contractual arrangements showing how an independently owned aesthetics business is expected to operate within the HIS registration system.
8. Records identifying which directorate, team, public body or external organisation is responsible for assessing the effects described above before the relevant secondary legislation is finalised.
Response
Questions 1, 2 and 7
You asked for recorded policy, legal or operational advice concerning who may own, register, manage or control an affected aesthetics business; the intended status and responsibilities of healthcare professionals connected with a registered service; and any proposed guidance, business models, organisational structures or example contractual arrangements showing how an independently owned aesthetics business may operate within the HIS registration framework.
Information relating to the registration of independent healthcare services is available from Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS). As this information is otherwise reasonably accessible, under section 25 (1) of FOISA we are not required to provide it to you. Information is available at:
Register a new independent healthcare service – Healthcare Improvement Scotland
The Scottish Government has undertaken extensive engagement during the development of proposals to regulate non-surgical cosmetic procedures. This included the public consultation Regulation of Non-Surgical Cosmetic Procedures, which ran from 20 December 2024 to 14 February 2025. The consultation sought views on proposals relating to future regulation of the sector, including the role of HIS-regulated settings, supervision arrangements, practitioner requirements and enforcement powers. The consultation received 2,207 responses from individuals and organisations.
The consultation and associated stakeholder engagement informed the development of policy proposals and supporting impact assessments, including:
Non-Surgical Procedures - Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment
Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment Template - Regulation of non-surgical procedures: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment - gov.scot
Regulation of non-surgical procedures: equality and Fairer Scotland Duty impact assessment - gov.scot
Regulation of non-surgical procedures: island communities impact assessment consideration - gov.scot
These assessments considered the potential impact on practitioners, businesses and consumers, including compliance costs, registration and licensing requirements, business models, competition, service provision and consumer confidence.
The Scottish Government holds some information relating to implementation planning discussions with Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS). While these discussions include consideration of matters included in your request, they do not establish final policy positions or provide definitive guidance.
Some information has been withheld under section 30(b)(ii) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), which exempts information where disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. Officials and stakeholders require a private space within which to discuss issues openly and explore options before decisions are reached.
Disclosure of this information would be likely to reduce the willingness of participants to contribute candidly to future discussions.
This exemption is subject to the public interest test. Taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered whether the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We recognise that there is a public interest in openness and transparency regarding discussions relating to the regulation of independent healthcare services. However, on balance, we have concluded that the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, as there is a greater public interest in ensuring that officials and stakeholders can engage in full and frank discussions to support effective policy development and implementation.
The Scottish Government does not hold recorded policy decisions, legal advice, agreed operational guidance or contractual models specifically addressing:
whether an independent aesthetic practitioner may become the registered provider of a service; whether an independent aesthetic practitioner may own or control an organisation registered with HIS; the organisational or contractual relationship required between a business owner and a healthcare professional; whether a healthcare professional must be the registered provider, registered manager, owner, employee, contractor or holder of practising privileges; or model contractual arrangements, organisational structures or business models through which individual businesses may operate under a future HIS registration regime.
Under section 17(1) of FOISA, I therefore notify you that the Scottish Government does not hold information falling within these aspects of your request.
Questions 3, 4 and 5
You asked about the consequences for Healthcare Improvement Scotland registration and continued business operation should a healthcare professional resign, withdraw services, become unavailable or lose professional registration; the potential for commercial dependency between businesses and healthcare professionals; and the impact of the proposed arrangements upon ownership, control and operation of existing businesses.
The Scottish Government's published impact assessments noted above represent the principal recorded consideration of these issues.
The Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment considered the potential impacts of regulation on businesses, practitioners and consumers, including compliance costs, registration and licensing requirements, changes to business models, service availability, competition, consumer confidence and the impact of requiring some procedures to be delivered from Healthcare Improvement Scotland-regulated settings.
The Equality and Fairer Scotland Duty Impact Assessment considered potential impacts on those working within the sector, including women, recognising that a significant proportion of businesses and practitioners operating within the sector are female-led.
These assessments therefore consider, at a strategic level, the potential impacts of introducing a regulatory framework for non-surgical cosmetic procedures. However, neither the impact assessments nor other information held by the Scottish Government contain specific analysis of:
the consequences for an individual business if a healthcare professional resigns, withdraws services, becomes unavailable, loses professional registration or prescribing authority, or otherwise ceases involvement with that business; the impact of such circumstances upon business ownership, goodwill, saleability, continuity of trading, bargaining power or commercial dependency; or the ability of individual businesses to obtain or retain a healthcare professional.
Under section 17(1) of FOISA, I therefore notify you that the Scottish Government does not hold information falling within these aspects of your request.
Question 6
You asked for copies of correspondence, meeting records, briefings and submissions exchanged between the Scottish Government and Healthcare Improvement Scotland concerning who may own, register, manage or control an affected aesthetics business; the relationship between business owners and healthcare professionals; the effect of withdrawal or replacement of healthcare professionals; and commercial dependency arrangements.
Searches of records held by the Scottish Government identified two meeting records that fall within the scope of this part of your request. Copies of these records are enclosed with this response.
The discussions recorded within these documents took place in the context of implementation planning and the regulation of the sector as a whole. As such, they should not be taken as establishing final policy positions.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, we are unable to provide some of the information contained within these records. Certain information has been redacted because exemptions under sections 30(b)(ii) (free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation) and 38(1)(b) (personal information) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) apply.
As outlined previously, the exemption under section 30(b)(ii) applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. Officials and stakeholders require a private space within which to discuss issues openly, explore options and provide candid views as part of the policy development and implementation process. Disclosing this information would be likely to reduce the willingness of participants to contribute fully and frankly to future discussions.
This exemption is subject to the public interest test. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered whether the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We recognise that there is a public interest in openness and transparency regarding the development and implementation of policy relating to the regulation of independent healthcare services. However, on balance, we have concluded that the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. There is a greater public interest in ensuring that officials and stakeholders are able to exchange views candidly and comprehensively as part of the deliberative process, enabling well-informed decisionmaking and effective policy development.
The exemption under section 38(1)(b) applies to personal information relating to individuals. Disclosure of this information would contravene the data protection principles set out in UK data protection legislation. This exemption is not subject to the public interest test, so we are not required to consider whether the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.
Question 8
You asked which directorate, team, public body or external organisation is responsible for assessing the impacts described in your request before the relevant secondary legislation is finalised.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, the Scottish Government does not hold the specific information you have requested. I am therefore providing formal notice under section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) that this information is not held by the Scottish Government.
By way of background, responsibility for policy development relating to the regulation of independent healthcare sits within the Healthcare Quality and Improvement Division of the Scottish Government. As part of this policy development process, the Scottish Government undertook and published a range of impact assessments, including a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment, an Equality and Fairer Scotland Duty Impact Assessment, a Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment, and an Island Communities Impact Assessment.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Detected exemption language
As this information is otherwise reasonably accessible, under section 25 (1) of FOISA we are not required to provide it to you. Some information has been withheld under section 30(b)(ii) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), which exempts information where disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. This exemption is subject to the public interest test. Taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered whether the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. However, on balance, we have concluded that the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, as there is a greater public interest in ensuring that officials and stakeholders can engage in full and frank discussions to support effective policy development and implementation.