Following the national consultation, Growing up in the Online World, the Government is banning social media companies from offering their services to children aged under 16 years old. We will take the same approach as Australia. This will capture user-to-user platforms, whose purpose is to enable social interaction, including platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X.

The ban will reduce children’s exposure to all potentially harmful content which can be viewed via social media platforms, including online trends which promote harm to children.

The Department has not formally assessed the effectiveness of this guidance.

The guidance provides information to help people understand the risks and make informed decisions before seeking treatment abroad. It was developed with input from clinical and professional bodies to ensure its accuracy.

However, it is not possible to accurately determine whether the guidance has reduced complications. This is because patient records do not consistently identify whether an individual has accessed the National Health Service in relation to treatment they received overseas. We are exploring ways to improve our understanding.

The UK Breast Implant Registry was a series of Microsoft Access Databases which were consolidated into one spreadsheet by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) after the closure of the registry. The data was transferred to the MHRA in 2006 upon closure of the registry and consolidated into one spreadsheet over time.

The MHRA intends to retain this dataset for as long as the information is needed to support legal cases, in line with the recommendations of the 2020 Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review. The dataset is confidential, access within the MHRA is limited, and data will only be released through Subject Access Requests.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR is not currently funding any specific research into long-term health effects of Poly Implant Prothèse breast (PIP) implants but welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of women’s health. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

The Department does not hold information related to breast implant safety research funded by other sources.

The Government recognises the important work of the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) and remains committed to addressing longstanding concerns around safety in the cosmetic sector.

We will issue the Government’s response to the WEC report on cosmetic procedures once the Department’s consultation on our proposed approach to introducing legal safeguards for high-risk cosmetic procedures is published. We intend to publish the consultation in the coming weeks.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services.

VAT is charged at the standard rate on all cosmetic procedures unless they are carried out by a health professional to protect, maintain or restore an individual’s health.

Cosmetic procedures to enhance a person’s appearance are subject to the standard rate of VAT. The VAT charged by the supplier can be reclaimed by the individual concerned if the services are for a business need, subject to the normal rules.

Therefore, most cosmetic procedures already attract standard rate VAT and no additional levy is needed.

The Outcomes and Registries Directions 2024 require that all healthcare providers of National Health Service funded care contribute data to the Breast and Cosmetic Implant Register. Therefore, compliance from both NHS and private clinicians, in relation to NHS funded care, is mandatory. Furthermore, work is ongoing within NHS England to ensure that all NHS and independent sector providers contribute data to the Medical Devices Outcomes Registry, following the recommendations of the Cumberlege Inquiry, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/outcomes-and-registries-programme/

Guidance for clinicians and patients called Symptoms sometimes referred to as Breast Implant Illness, including autoimmune conditions, was published by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in 2020 and updated in 2023. Healthcare professionals and anyone experiencing any symptoms that they believe to be associated with their breast implants are strongly encouraged to report these through the Yellow Card scheme.

Continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities for primary care workers are provided by royal colleges and professional bodies for each profession.

Primary care workers should ensure their own clinical knowledge remains up to date and are responsible for identifying learning needs as part of their CPD. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high-quality care to all patients.

General practices and primary care networks also have access to a regional Primary Care Training Hub, which will bring together education and training resources from National Health Service organisations, community providers, and local authorities. Training hubs are usually run by a clinical leader and a manager supported by a network of primary care staff with education and training professionals based in the community. They work closely with primary care networks and integrated care systems to support workforce priorities and tackle health inequalities to help meet patient and population demand.

Under existing medical device regulations, UK Medical Devices Regulations 2002, all medical devices must meet the Essential Requirements, which includes the use of designated standards that specify mandatory safety and performance criteria for those devices. As breast implants are the highest class medical device, class III, they must undergo rigorous pre-market testing by the manufacturer, which is then assessed by a third party such as a United Kingdom approved body or European Union notified body, before being registered with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and prior to being placed on the market in the UK. Once on the market, the manufacturer must continuously review the safety of their devices. The manufacturer is subject to annual surveillance and monitoring, alongside unannounced audits to ensure claimed standards of quality and safety management are being applied in practise. The MHRA also monitors emerging signals to determine if previously unrecognised risks exist or if the nature of known risks is changing.

Following the Cumberlege recommendations in the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, the MHRA has introduced post-market surveillance regulations to require that safety issues with medical devices are identified early. Further information on the review is available at the following link:

https://immdsreview.org.uk/

The MHRA is also developing a future regulatory framework to strengthen pre-market requirements for medical devices. This intends to introduce requirements for unique device identifiers, implant cards, and new rules to ensure that claims are consistent with intended purpose to better reflect potential risks to patients, increase containment of safety issues, and reduce patient harm.

The Department delivers research via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including the health impacts of breast implants. Through the NIHR, the Department funded a study to explore the long-term outcomes and cost-effectiveness of different methods of breast reconstruction, including implants, for women following a mastectomy. This research showed which methods of breast reconstruction were more likely to require later revision, supporting patients to make informed decisions about their treatment.

On 7 August 2025, the Government announced its plans to introduce measures to improve the safety of the cosmetics sector. This included prioritising the introduction of legal restrictions which will ensure that the highest risk cosmetic procedures are brought into Care Quality Commission regulation and can only be performed by specified regulated healthcare professionals.

In addition, the Government also committed to legislating to introduce a licensing scheme in England for lower risk procedures through powers granted through the Health and Care Act 2022. Under this scheme, which will be operated by local authorities, practitioners will be required to obtain a licence to perform specified cosmetic procedures, and the premises from which they operate will also need to be licensed.  To protect children and young people, the Government is also committed to mandating age restrictions for cosmetic procedures.

The proposals will be taken forward through secondary legislation and therefore subject to the parliamentary process before the legal restrictions, or licensing regulations, can be introduced. We are now working with stakeholders to develop detailed plans and intend to consult on proposals for restrictions around the performance of the highest risk procedures in the spring.

The Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry (BCIR), set up in 2016, collects all implant data, and explant data where possible.

Practically, it is always difficult and often impossible to identify a model and product code on an explant. If explanted devices, or patients undergoing explant, cannot be linked to data collected at time of implant, then this often reduces explant data to 'patient, surgeon, location, date'. This in turn makes it impossible to monitor trends in explant/failure.

NHS England is in the process of clarifying and mandating the detail required in the BCIR and other device-related collections. This will place a greater responsibility on trusts to either identify a device at the point of explant, or to identify the device from internal trust records created during the same patient's implant procedure.

This will only be possible if the implant and explant are performed at the same trust. It is then the intention of NHS England to provide the same matching service for implant/explant where the trusts differ.

This solution will, when implemented, give a full, proactive picture of device longevity/risk, for the purposes of research and surveillance, alongside the existing ability to identify patients affected by a device recall notice.

Alongside this work, as part of the its reforms to the Medical Devices Regulations 2002, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has introduced updated requirements for the post-market surveillance of medical devices, including implants, enabling both the manufacturer and the MHRA to identify issues with medical devices more easily and where necessary, for the MHRA to take fast action to safeguard public health.

Later this year, the MHRA intends to introduce a requirement for clinicians to provide patients with an implant card and information regarding any warnings, precautions, or measures to be taken by the patient or healthcare professional. This will strengthen transparency and support patients in understanding their implants.

The Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry (BCIR), set up in 2016, collects all implant data, and explant data where possible.

Practically, it is always difficult and often impossible to identify a model and product code on an explant. If explanted devices, or patients undergoing explant, cannot be linked to data collected at time of implant, then this often reduces explant data to 'patient, surgeon, location, date'. This in turn makes it impossible to monitor trends in explant/failure.

NHS England is in the process of clarifying and mandating the detail required in the BCIR and other device-related collections.

This will place a greater responsibility on trusts to either identify a device at the point of explant, or to identify the device from internal trust records created during the same patient's implant procedure. This will only be possible if the implant and explant are performed at the same trust. It is then the intention of NHS England to provide the same matching service for implant/explant where the trusts differ.

This solution will, when implemented, give a full, proactive picture of device longevity/risk, for the purposes of research and surveillance, alongside the existing ability to identify patients affected by a device recall notice.