Member

I am grateful to the Minister for organising a meeting for me with Minister Karin Smyth of the Department of Health and Social Care. However, although we had an interesting discussion, the Minister was unable to help with the issue that this amendment addresses. Minister Smyth reinforced the point made in Committee by the noble Lord, Lord Hanson, that the Government are considering the question of regulation in a number of areas of healthcare. The position of psychotherapists, however, is that they practise in a space that is entirely unregulated, except that there are a number of voluntary registers accredited by the Professional Standards Authority. Indeed, the question of the regulation of psychotherapists is important and needs to be addressed. The noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, and my noble friend Lord Alderdice, with all their relevant experience in government and in practice, have been arguing this case for years. Minister Smyth was happy to discuss the issue of regulation with me, but it became clear that the Government have no current plans to proceed with the compulsory regulation of psychotherapists in any case, so for today’s debate, the issue of regulation is a red herring.