Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not made a formal assessment of the adequacy of the regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists. The Government is clear that the level of regulatory oversight must be proportionate to the risks to the public, and that statutory regulation of healthcare professionals should only be used where the risks to public and patient protection cannot be addressed in other ways, such as through employer oversight or accredited voluntary registration.

The Government believes that anyone using counselling or psychotherapy services deserves to have confidence and trust in their healthcare professionals, which is why we urge the use of qualified practitioners holding voluntary registration accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.