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 on the potential merits of statutory regulation of therapy titles.

Titles can only be protected for statutorily regulated professions. Some regulated professions include the term ‘therapist’ and as such have protected title status, for example Art therapist, Dental therapist, and Occupational therapist. Therapists in general are not a statutorily regulated profession in the United Kingdom. The Government has not made an assessment on the merits of protecting all therapy titles.

The Government is clear that the professions protected in law must be the right ones and that the level of regulatory oversight must be proportionate to the risks to the public.