Tuesday, 17 December 2024 • Lords

Recognition of Professional Qualifications and Implementation of International Recognition Agreements (Amendment) (Extension to Switzerland etc.) Regulations 2024

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15:47:00

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Lord Leong

That the Grand Committee do consider the Recognition of Professional Qualifications and Implementation of International Recognition Agreements (Amendment) (Extension to Switzerland etc.) Regulations 2024.

Lord Leong

My Lords, these regulations were laid before the House on 4 November 2024. Before I turn to my opening comments, I draw the Committee’s attention to the correction slip issued in relation to the draft regulations as they were originally laid. This corrects a minor error in the date of a statutory instrument referred to in the Explanatory Note. It also provides an update to a footnote on page 4 to refer to the Welsh statutory instrument that was made on 18 November 2024. These regulations implement the agreement on the recognition of professional qualifications that the UK and Switzerland signed in June 2023. Switzerland is the UK’s 10th-largest trading partner. Implementing this agreement boosts UK exports and encourages Swiss investment into the UK. In 2023, services trade with Switzerland was worth £27 billion. The professional and business services sector, which relies heavily on regulated professions, accounted for £13.8 billion of that total. These regulations place a legal duty on UK regulators to recognise comparable Swiss professional qualifications and provide regulators with the necessary legal powers to do so. In parallel, Switzerland is passing legislation requiring Swiss regulators to recognise UK qualifications, meaning that UK professionals also benefit from reduced barriers to working in Switzerland. The Government are using powers in Section 3 of the Professional Qualifications Act 2022 to make these regulations. These powers were first used in December 2023, when the Government implemented the recognition of professional qualifications provisions of the UK’s free trade agreement with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein through the Recognition of Professional Qualifications and Implementation of International Recognition Agreements (Amendment) Regulations 2023; I will hereafter refer to these as the EEA EFTA regulations. The provisions under the Swiss agreement are very similar to those in the UK’s free trade agreement with EEA EFTA. Therefore, these regulations add Switzerland as a specified state to the EEA EFTA regulations. The Swiss agreement also contains an annexe that provides certain Swiss and UK lawyers with a bespoke route to recognition of their professional qualifications between Switzerland and the UK. These regulations amend the EEA EFTA regulations to implement these additional provisions for Swiss legal professionals. The regulations will come into force on 1 January 2025, when the existing recognition of professional qualifications provisions in the UK-Switzerland citizens’ rights agreement expire. This will ensure continuity in recognition provisions and a smooth transition for UK regulators and Swiss professionals. I will now provide details about the regulations. They place a legal duty on regulators to recognise comparable Swiss qualifications; they prescribe the procedure that regulators must follow in recognising Swiss qualifications; they enable regulators to refuse to recognise Swiss professional qualifications where certain conditions are met; they prescribe compensatory measures that regulators can require a Swiss professional to take in certain circumstances; and they amend sectoral legislation to enable regulators to meet those requirements where they do not currently have the power to do so. The regulations include specific provisions that apply to the regulators of advocates, barristers and solicitors. The Department of Health and Social Care has separately taken forward legislation to regulate anaesthesia associates and physician associates. Therefore, the regulations extend the obligation on the regulator of anaesthesia associates and physician associates to comply with both agreements. I reassure the Committee that under these regulations it remains the responsibility of independent regulators to set standards for their profession and decide who meets those standards. Regulators will need to decide whether a qualification from Switzerland is comparable to a UK qualification and can refuse to recognise the qualification where certain conditions are met, and can prescribe compensatory measures which a professional can be required to take. In accordance with Section 15 of the Professional Qualifications Act, the Department for Business and Trade consulted regulators about the implementation of this agreement. A formal consultation ran from February to April 2024 and sought regulator views on the implementation approach and the regulations. Respondents were supportive and officials from my department engaged with regulators on the feedback. The regulations cover professions that are regulated by the UK Government and professions that are regulated at a devolved level by Scotland and Northern Ireland. This approach has been taken after extensive engagement with the devolved Governments. The regulations do not apply to Welsh regulated professions. The Welsh Senedd made regulations implementing the agreement for Welsh-regulated professions on 18 November 2024. These regulations will come into force on 1 January 2025. In accordance with Section 17 of the Professional Qualifications Act 2022, the Department for Business and Trade ran a consultation with the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive from August to September 2024. The Welsh Government were not formally consulted, but the consultation was shared with them. The consultation sought views on the implementation approach and requested that the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive identify any amendments to devolved government legislation. The Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive agreed that the regulations were sufficient to meet the obligations of the agreement, and confirmed that the regulations were workable in practice and that their regulators could meet the obligations under the regulations. The Scottish Government submitted minor amendments, which have been incorporated into the regulations. The Northern Ireland Executive are making amendments to their devolved legislation. A UK government response to this consultation was published on GOV.UK. To conclude, these regulations bring into effect the recognition of professional qualifications system contained in the Swiss agreement. They ensure that the UK is meeting its obligations under international law and provide certainty for regulators. They also ensure a smooth and transparent system for Swiss professionals to have their qualifications recognised, once the provisions in the Swiss citizens’ rights agreement expire. This brings tangible, long-term benefits to the United Kingdom.

Baroness Garden of Frognal

My Lords, in the absence of anybody else, I thank the Minister very much for setting out so clearly these regulations. Over the years, I have been involved in all manner of discussions about recognition of vocational and professional qualifications. I have never come across a regulation as clearly good as this one. It seems to be totally uncontroversial. It is broad, is it not? It covers Lords, pilots, osteoporosis people and all sorts of interesting professions. My briefing said that no speech was required but I cannot resist saying that we on these Benches fully support this measure.

Lord Jones

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his informative remarks, made in the most clear and precise tones imaginable. I acknowledge also my appreciation of the manner in which these regulations have been drawn up and the helpfulness of the Explanatory Memorandum. With regard to the Explanatory Memorandum, at paragraph 4.2 there is reference to aptitude tests. Do the Minister’s officials have any idea how many such aptitude tests are taken annually, and what has been the situation on those tests in Wales? Is there a record in the department? Do these regulations particularly apply to medicine? It is clearly of importance when the NHS and private medicine are considered. What are the major professions that come under these regulations, not simply medicine? I should like to ask about Wales specifically. At paragraph 4.5, I am looking at the “territorial scope” and it is clear that Wales is separate. Is that the case for other nations? How many regulations are undertaken by the Welsh Government? Is there assistance to Wales in the making of regulations of this kind and if there is, what is the nature of that assistance? Is it by officials only? Do Ministers meet face to face, from one Parliament to another? Is it otherwise down the line, or is it simply a set of regulations totally made in Wales by Welsh Senators and Welsh Ministers?

Lord Leong

My Lords, I am grateful for the support from the noble Baroness, Lady Garden of Frognal, and for the contribution made by my noble friend Lord Jones. I will come to my noble friend’s questions. I will try to answer everything but if I do not cover all his questions, I will definitely write to him. As regards the aptitude test, most of the regulators operate autonomously, so it is up to individual regulators to manage the various assessments. The aptitude test will be covered by the respective regulators themselves. Currently, these regulations cover over 200 profession but some of the royal-chartered professions, such as accountancy and engineering, are not covered by them. My noble friend Lord Jones asked how many people had taken the aptitude test in Wales and how they managed it. I am afraid I do not have the answer and will have to write to him. As I have set out, the regulations implement the UK-Switzerland recognition of professional qualifications agreement. They require regulators to operate routes to recognition for comparable Swiss professional qualifications, in accordance with the agreement. They give powers to regulators to recognise comparable qualifications where necessary. The regulations provide certainty for professionals and UK service sectors, allowing them to continue to access smooth and transparent routes to recognition once the citizens’ rights agreement provisions expire at the end of this year. As Switzerland is also passing legislation requiring Swiss regulators to recognise UK qualifications, these benefits are reciprocal. As I have emphasised, these regulations continue to uphold the principle of regulator autonomy as set out in the Professional Qualifications Act 2022. Departmental officials have also engaged extensively with regulators and the devolved Governments throughout the implementation of this agreement. I trust that noble Lords understand and recognise the need for these regulations and the benefits that they will bring to the UK’s services trade. Once again, I thank all noble Lords for their contributions, and commend these draft regulations to the Committee.

Speaker

Motion agreed.

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