Committee
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee 24 February 2026 [Draft]
24 Feb 2026 · S6 · Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Item of business
Non-surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
:I am grateful to members for the points that they have raised and I urge them to support amendments 9, 22 to 25 and 31. I ask Maurice Golden and Stuart McMillan not to move the remaining amendments in the group.The amendments in my name are necessary to ensure that the “permitted premises” definition is as clear as possible for providers of non-surgical procedures and for HIS as the enforcing body. The other amendments in the group would undermine the core safety protections that the bill offers.I will touch briefly on Dr Gulhane’s points about prescriptions. We are having conversations about those issues with the UK Government and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. As you know, the matter is reserved. I acknowledge Dr Gulhane’s points and I am happy to discuss them further. HIS looks at such circumstances in its reviews and would refer any issues that it spotted to the MHRA.I will repeat what I have said elsewhere, which is that I do not want to disrupt business unnecessarily, but nor am I willing to compromise on safety in order to reduce disruption. I am happy to continue to work with members on other approaches to mitigate the impact on businesses, including existing business support and any guidance that we can provide.I want HIS to work with the Scottish Government to ensure that all its standards and requirements are appropriate to the services that it regulates and to consider any statutory standards in the same context. There is scope to make changes to regulations to better accommodate settings that do a mixture of procedures and other beauty treatments. I am happy to share more detail on that by correspondence.In the lead-up to and during stage 3, I would be happy to hear any other suggestions from members on steps that might mitigate the impact on businesses.Amendment 9 agreed to.
In the same item of business
The Convener (Clare Haughey)
SNP
Good morning, and welcome to the ninth meeting in 2026 of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. I have received no apologies.Our first and only agenda...
The Convener
SNP
Amendment 5, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendments 28, 30 and 34.
The Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health (Jenni Minto)
SNP
As this is the first group of amendments to be considered, I will make some quick general comments. I thank committee members for their consideration to date...
The Convener
SNP
No other member has indicated that they wish to speak to amendment 5. I call the minister to wind up.
Jenni Minto
SNP
:The amendments are necessary to meet the ambition to set training standards in the future.Amendment 5 agreed to.
The Convener
SNP
Amendment 6, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendments 7, 8, 64, 65, 36, 37, 10, 38, 11 to 17, 39 and 18 to 21.
Jenni Minto
SNP
:I am pleased to speak to this group, which includes amendments on several issues relating to the fundamental definition of a non-surgical procedure. I will ...
Sandesh Gulhane (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
I declare an interest as a practising national health service general practitioner.I will start with amendment 6, and I would like to directly ask the minist...
Maurice Golden (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
As a result of an article appearing in a national newspaper today, I should put on the record that my girlfriend works in the aesthetics sector. Private live...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind)
Ind
Good morning to the minister and her team.My amendments are the result of, first, my discussions with a number of constituents who have raised concerns with ...
Joe FitzPatrick (Dundee City West) (SNP)
SNP
I am very sympathetic to Dr Gulhane’s amendments 64 and 65. I wonder whether the minister would consider agreeing to discuss those amendments further with Dr...
Jenni Minto
SNP
:I am grateful to members for their contributions to the discussion on this group, which covers some very important issues. The complexity of aspects of the ...
Sandesh Gulhane
Con
:Would the minister consider changing “clinical trial” in amendment 6 to “regulated clinical trial”?
Jenni Minto
SNP
:I would be very happy to discuss that with Dr Gulhane in the lead-up to stage 3.I am content to consider discussions with Mr Balfour on his amendment 37, be...
The Convener
SNP
Amendment 9, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendments 9, 22, 22A to 22D, 40, 23, 68, 69, 24, 41, 71, 25, 42, 43, 73, 44, 31, 112, 113, 60 and ...
Jenni Minto
SNP
:This group of amendments goes to the heart of the bill. It contains amendments to section 4, which sets out the most important public safety provisions on w...
The Convener
SNP
Maurice Golden will speak to amendment 22A and other amendments in the group.
Maurice Golden
Con
:I have lodged probing amendments on two areas, the first of which is permitted premises. The rationale behind those amendments is that they would allow perm...
Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP)
SNP
Before I speak about amendment 22C, I thank the minister for taking the bill forward and for listening to concerns from the sector. Safety is the paramount d...
Sandesh Gulhane
Con
:I will make general comments on this group of amendments. If we are talking about permitted premises under HIS standards, we are saying that a basic standar...
Emma Harper (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Botulinum toxin comes in a multidose vial, so one vial would be used for more than one person. That raises issues of the traceability of that vial, its expir...
Sandesh Gulhane
Con
:I would agree. Further, the documentation about when the vial came out of the fridge and went back in the fridge, and how long it had been open for, is vita...
Jenni Minto
SNP
:I am grateful to members for the points that they have raised and I urge them to support amendments 9, 22 to 25 and 31. I ask Maurice Golden and Stuart McMi...
The Convener
SNP
Does Sandesh Gulhane wish to move amendment 64?
Sandesh Gulhane
Con
:I feel that removing osteopaths from the bill is important, so I move amendment 64.
The Convener
SNP
The question is, that amendment 64 be agreed to. Are we agreed?Members: No.
The Convener
SNP
There will be a division.
ForGulhane, Sandesh (Glasgow) (Con)Whittle, Brian (South Scotland) (Con)AgainstFitzPatrick, Joe (Dundee City West) (SNP)Harper, Emma (South Scotland) (SNP)Ha...
The Convener
SNP
The result of the division is: For 2, Against 8, Abstentions 0.Amendment 64 disagreed to.Amendments 65 and 36 not moved.
The Convener
SNP
Does Jeremy Balfour wish to move amendment 37?