Hair and Beauty Sector Regulation

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Monday 2nd November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Vikki Slade]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention. Indeed, the number of barber shops on our high streets has doubled in the last decade or so, and I am fairly sure that the number of us requiring a weekly haircut has not.

The point is not about competition but about unfair competition, alongside what are, it has to be said, quite impossible trading conditions.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I am one of those fortunate people who never has to go to a barber. I do not even use a comb; I just use a chamois, and it keeps me okay.

In recent years, there have been increasing reports across the UK of so-called beauticians carrying out invasive procedures without the necessary medical qualifications. Doctors across the country have warned of the serious, potentially life-threatening consequences of botched treatments. Does the hon. Lady agree that stronger regulation of the cosmetic industry is urgently needed, particularly given that some are carrying out invasive and, in some cases, surgical procedures without the appropriate qualifications or training? The Government must hold these individuals criminally responsible for the damage that they are causing to public health.

[Vikki Slade]

It is interesting; although this campaign is specifically about hair and barbering, there have been calls for a similar registration system for those industries that do piercings, tattoos and that sort of thing, but the industry itself is struggling to work out exactly what it should look like. There is a big issue around insurance, which I will come on to.

According to analysis commissioned by the British Hair Consortium, employee numbers in the sector fell by about 23% in 2025, which is equivalent to the loss of 20,000 jobs. To put it another way, that is the equivalent of 20 employing salons making all their staff redundant every working day for a year.

Industry estimates suggest that more than 70% of those working in the sector are now classified as self-employed. Of course, genuine self-employment is not a problem—many talented stylists and barbers have always chosen to rent a chair as a stepping stone towards their own business—but the concern is about places where self-employment exists entirely on paper.

When I met representatives of the National Hair and Beauty Federation a couple of weeks ago, they described workers who were, in their own words, employees on Friday and self-employed on Monday. Nothing about their work or the business had changed; only their employment status had changed. They continue to work at the same chair in a single salon with no control over their prices and unable to determine their own working practices, but they no longer have sickness cover, pensions or any rights. The change involves reduced tax receipts for the Government and, crucially, fewer apprenticeships—without workers, a business cannot hire apprentices.

It is in apprenticeships where the consequences are most serious. Hairdressing apprenticeship starts in England fell from more than 13,000 in 2015 to just 4,000 in 2023, and forecasts suggest that recruitment could completely collapse within a couple of years if current trends continue. That should concern every Member of the House, because those are not just statistics but lost opportunities for young people, for social mobility and for skills development. The sector reports that about a quarter of its apprentices have special educational needs, which is a significantly higher rate than the wider apprenticeship sector. Many of them have also spent time not in education, employment or training. For thousands of young people who struggle to access traditional academic pathways, the sector has provided a route to qualifications, employment and independence.