Sunbed Government Consultation May 2026 – Age checks to stop children using sunbeds under new laws

A 12 week consultation has been launched today by the Government today to introduce tougher rules to better protect children and teens from sunbeds, including mandatory ID checks.

While it is already illegal for under-18s to use sunbeds, many still do. 

The new proposals would require staff to be present and check a customer’s ID before they can use a sunbed; would ensure health warnings are clearly displayed; ad would ban dangerous claims that sunbeds help with weight loss or prevent sunburn.

Melanoma Focus will be replying to the consultation to support extra measures being in place, but please respond to so that the Government knows how important it is for these measures to be introduced. 

You can read more about the government’s introduction to age verifications for sunbeds to protect young people from harm and support the regulation changes HERE.

Complete the consultation HERE.

CEO of Melanoma Focus, Susanna Daniels was featured on BBC breakfast this morning spotlighting the underage use of sunbeds and the link to melanoma, you can watch the full clip here: