Private Member’s Bill that could lead to a change in the law

Parliament will meet on Friday for the second reading of a Private Member’s Bill that could lead to a change in the law, but the process could be derailed unless at least 100 MPs attend.

The Government vowed to ban tanning salons from allowing under-18s to use their facilities after a number of high-profile cases in which children were severely burned.

The Northern Echo launched the Sunbed Safety campaign in 2008 after Darlington schoolgirl Katie Turner was hospitalised following a 20-minute session under lamps at a local salon.

Jenny Morris, from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, which is campaigning for a change in the law, said Friday’s debate was crucial if the Bill was to become law.

She said: “This really needs support from MPs. In order for this to go through, we need at least 100 MPs to be there.

“One of the problems is the house does not generally sit on a Friday and many MPs are in their constituencies doing work.

“This is the best chance we have had to change the law to ban under-18s from using sunbeds.”

A report compiled by Cancer Research UK found that more than 250,000 children have used sunbeds. The figure is particularly high in some places, including Sunderland, where half of 15 to 17-year olds said they had visited salons.

Mrs Morris said: “Evidence shows that using sunbeds increases the risk of developing skin cancer. When you are younger, you are more vulnerable.

“This Private Member’s Bill is fairly straightforward, it will be make it illegal for sunbeds to be offered for use by under-18s.

“We think this is a great opportunity, but we have got a limited window of time on this. We have a General Election coming up. After the election, priorities may change and this could slip down the agenda.

“If we do not take this chance, it is likely to be a considerable period of time before we can do this again. In that time, a great deal of harm could be done to more children.”