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Sunbeds (Regulation) Bill

Two hon. Members mentioned the Sunbed Association, with which I have been working very closely from day one. It does not want the unregulated end of the market. It does not want young people to put themselves at risk and it has been very supportive. Concerns have been raised about the regulation of business and allowing an industry to operate in the correct manner. This is not about getting at an industry, but about doing what is right and providing members of the public with an appropriate service. I do not think that it is appropriate to allow young people, or any member of the public, merely to go in and read a few posters, which, in many cases, can be misleading—on some occasions, they can be downright misleading, stating that it is healthy to use sunbeds—rather than having someone there to give that advice. It is shocking and it is not good enough. The academic evidence is overwhelming. The COMARE report on the carcinogenic levels related to sunbed use is horrific. It frightened me as a parent and a grandparent. When I consider the number of soap stars, pop stars and sports stars who use sunbeds without thought, and their influence on young people, I realise that we need to get the message across. I take on board what has been said about a campaign. There has been a campaign. The Health and Safety Executive guidelines have been updated. The use of sunbeds has been included in the SunSmart campaign. In many cases, young people do not make the link between going out in the sun and using a sunbed. They think that a sunbed is safer and healthier. There have been questions about health benefits. People say they feel better and look better with a tan. That is a complete fallacy. When one has been in the sun, there is a short-term benefit—a plumping of the skin and a rosy glow. But the effect is short-lived. People are not healthier, they just feel a bit better because they have seen some sun. It is a very short-term health benefit. The Bill allows for cases when the use of sunbeds or sun lamps is appropriate. In my office, I have a photograph of the youngest tanorexic in my constituency: a three-day-old premature baby wearing a tiny pair of goggles who has to go under a sun lamp. That is entirely appropriate. Cancer Research has worked closely with me and my colleagues and has provided much information. As we worked our way through it and considered how we could work with the industry to encourage it to take up safer guidelines and regulate itself, it was clear that nothing would happen voluntarily. The industry has good operators; there are several in my constituency. They turn away young people. They ask the right questions, give proper advice and are very cross when they see young people immediately walk out of their salons and go to the nearest unstaffed, unsupervised salon where young people can feed the machine for as little as 25p a minute. Such salons are totally unregulated. When we launched the Bill earlier this month, I was delighted to hear my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health offer his support for it and suggest that he would introduce regulation to tackle the unstaffed salon end of the market as soon as possible after it was passed. I warmly welcome his ministerial commitment, not only to introduce regulation once the Bill has completed its journey but to work with the industry to protect young people. I know that the Sunbed Association and the responsible end of the sun salon industry want to work with us. Many operators in the unstaffed salon end of the market are not responsible. There is a job-creation opportunity for members of the public visiting those facilities. I have been told by cleaners who work in those salons that they would like to be on the premises longer. They would like to be trained and instructed in helping the public. There are opportunities for the industry to expand. Several cities have tried local licensing arrangements to ensure minimum standards in salons and they have been adhered to, but it is clear that national legislation is preferable to inconsistent local action. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and COMARE clearly recommend national legislation. There is now legislation in Scotland, and I understand that the Irish Government have been convinced of the argument and will, I hope, be undertaking legislation too.