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Special Procedures Licensing Scheme

Information on the new mandatory special procedures licensing scheme for practitioners and premises

The scheme requires practitioners who perform any special procedure (list provided below) on someone else in Wales to be licensed (this licence is referred to as a ‘Special Procedures Licence’). The scheme also requires that premises/vehicles from which special procedures practitioners operate will need to be approved (known as an ‘Approved Premises Certificate’). The scheme also has mandatory requirements/conditions within the Regulations for practitioners and premises/vehicles.

Special procedures covered by the new licensing scheme

The new scheme, at present, only applies to certain special procedures. These are defined in Section 57 of the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017, and include the following:

• Acupuncture (including dry needling)
• Body piercing
• Electrolysis
• Tattooing (including semi-permanent make up / microblading)

Timescales

The Regulations have now come into force.

Practitioners Licence

The new licensing scheme requires practitioners who perform any of the prescribed special procedures listed above on someone else in Wales to be licensed. The licence will specify which special procedure(s) the practitioner is licenced to practice, as well as listing the premises that the practitioner operates from. Each practitioner must have their own licence. Licensed practitioners can only operate in premises/vehicles that have been approved.

It will be an offence for a practitioner to carry out a special procedure without a licence or to perform any procedures from premises or vehicles that are not approved. It will also be an offence not to comply with the specific requirements detailed in the regulation for practitioners and premises/vehicles.

Practitioners who were registered under the existing requirements of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 are required to apply for their own special procedure licence and, if necessary, a premises/vehicle approval certificate.

Those with existing registrations will have 3 months from coming into force date (29th November 2024), to apply for a licence (and, where applicable, an approval certificate) and will benefit from a transitional licence. This transitional licence will allow existing practitioners to continue to perform special procedures (as per their current registration document), whilst the new licence application is being submitted and processed.

A transitional licence has automatically been issued to all existing registered premises and practitioners, and there will be no requirement for you to apply for this.

An application for a licence under the new scheme must be made within this 3 month period (by 28^th February 2025).

If you are a new practitioner you will be required to apply for and be issued with a practitioner licence prior to undertaking any special procedures in Wales.

Apply for a Practitioners Licence here

Approved Premises / Vehicle Certificate

The new licensing scheme will require all premises or vehicles where any of the specified special procedures (acupuncture, body piercing, electrolysis and/or tattooing) performed by licensed practitioners to be approved. The approval certificate will be issued to the person responsible for the business at a premises (this may be the owner, manager or practitioner - they do not need to be the person performing the procedures themselves and may not be directly employing practitioners). If a practitioner holds a special procedure licence but is an employee, or rents a chair/room in someone else's business, then they do not need to have their own premises/vehicle approval certificate but must still make sure that they only operate from an approved premises or vehicle.

It will be an offence for a practitioner to carry out a special procedure without a licence or to perform any procedures from premises or vehicles that are not approved. It will also be an offence not to comply with the specific requirements detailed in the regulation for practitioners and premises/vehicles.

Premises that were registered under the previous requirements of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 will be required to apply for their own premises approval certificate and, if necessary, a special procedure licence.

Those responsible for a business, where the premises has an existing registration, will have 3 months from 29th November 2024 to apply for approval and will benefit from a transitional licence in the interim. This transitional approval will allow existing premises to continue to operate, as per their previous registration document, whilst the new licence application is being submitted and processed (practitioners must also be licensed or be covered under the transitional arrangement to perform any special procedure at these premises).

A transitional approval certificate has been automatically issued to all existing registered premises and practitioners, and there will be no requirement for you to apply for this.

If you are setting up a new premises / vehicle in which you intend to provide any special procedures, you will be required to apply for and be issued with a an approved premises / vehicle certificate prior to undertaking any special procedures in Wales in the premises / vehicle.

Apply for a Premises / Vehicle Approval Certificate here 

Fees

Please find information regarding the current fee structure for the new regime here 

National Database of Licensed Practitioners and Approved Premises / Vehicles

There is a requirement under the new scheme for a database of all licensed practitioners and approved premises / vehicles to be made available to the public.

The National database is available here: . This will not hold details of those that have been issued with transitional licences / approval certificates. 

If you want to confirm whether a practitioner and/or premises / vehicle is operating under the transitional arrangements then you will need to contact the Council in the area of whom they are operating for further information. 

Further information and guidance

Further information and guidance regarding the requirements of the scheme is available here:

Welsh Government also intend to publish statutory and non-statutory guidance. This link is not yet available. We will publish the links once they become available but in the interim direct you to the Welsh Government website where you can search for updates on the scheme:

Public Health Wales:

Contact us

For application queries regarding the special procedures licensing scheme, please email licensing@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk

For any other enquires regarding the special procedures licensing scheme or to report a concern regarding a practitioner, premises or vehicle performing any special procedure/s, please email environmental.health@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk