Petition to scrap licence fees for massage therapists - Professional Beauty

[massage]

Beauty therapist launches petition to scrap council licence fees for massage therapists
Beauty therapist Hayley Morgan, owner of HRM Beauty in Rayleigh, has launched a petition to update the 1987 Law for Massage Therapists, which states that beauty professionals need a licence to perform massage treatments at a set premises.


Morgan says the issue is this: beauty therapists do not need a licence to work mobile but do need one to perform massage treatments. She says therapist have to pay even if they’re not working in a set premises or location on a full, or even part-time, basis, which can “cost the individual hundreds of pounds each year – with fines of thousands if they don’t pay”.

Morgan also explains that beauty therapists do not need a licence to carry out other treatments at a set premises, such as lashes and chemical peels. Currently, the licence is per location and per therapist, and so if a beauty therapist works in more than one country or borough then they will have to pay again. The fees also differ from each country and borough. As such, Morgan is campaigning for the 1987 Law for Massage Therapists to be scrapped or revised.

Sign the massage reform petition now.

She told Professional Beauty: “I can massage the face and scalp and not have to pay, and I can work mobile and not pay. Therefore, this fee has nothing to do with checking my qualifications, standards or safety for myself or my clients. If we can do the treatment on a mobile basis without being charged, then we shouldn't have to pay for any location.

“If the massage licence is in place to reduce the number of sex workers in the UK, how does a background check or even one physical pre-arranged check a year do this? Councils are exploiting this law and using us as cash cows. The law is adapted to suit and every time it is the massage therapist who has to pay out.

“If it is about location, the law should cover all industries and locations that involve the public. If it is about the treatment of massage it should be applied to the therapist no matter where they work. The question of ‘What does this licence prove/do/protect from?' will still remain. Is this the best way to support small local businesses that had to close and weren’t able to adapt during coronavirus?”

You can sign the “Update 1987 Law for Massage Therapists petition” here.


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