Sunbeds Bill passes crucial hurdle in the Commons

The Sunbeds Bill passed its second reading in the Commons

Julie Morgan‘s Sunbeds Bill passed its crucial Second Reading in the House of Commons on Friday.

The Bill seeks to prevent under-18s from using sunbeds, as well as opening the door to salons being compelled to provide accurate health information and prohibit unstaffed sunbed salons.

During the reading, Julie outlined why this Bill was needed, the evidence base behind it and also referred to research we’ve commissioned on sunbed use by young people. Julie was supported by long-term sunbeds campaigner Sian James, who spoke movingly about the experiences in her constituency of unstaffed sunbed salons.

There was a lively debate, and the Bill achieved warm cross-party support, with the Government’s Public Health Minister Gillian Merron congratulating Julie on the Bill and highlighting our press launch – previously featured on this blog.

No MPs opposed the Bill, and therefore it now passes to the next stage, the Committee Stage, without a vote.

What happens next?

The Committee Stage involves a small group of cross-party MPs, who over several meetings will look through the Bill line by line, and discuss its implications in detail.

The Bill will then have its Third Reading/Report Stage in the House of Commons, before being sent to the Lords for their approval.

Owing to the forthcoming general election, the timings are incredibly tight.  Hence we’re calling on the Government to make time for the Sunbeds Bill to be properly debated and passed before the election is called.

Henry