Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 56880 on Health Professions: Regulation, when he plans to publish a consultation on a draft legislative framework for the General Medical Council which would enable them to consider fitness to practise concerns arising from allegations of sexual misconduct that are more than five years old.

The Government is committed to modernising the regulatory frameworks for all healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom.

As a first step, we aim to consult on secondary legislation to modernise the General Medical Council’s regulatory framework in late 2025 and to lay this legislation before Parliament in 2026. This will be followed by further legislation which will modernise the governing legislation of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and of the Health and Care Professions Council, within the current parliamentary period.

The Department will continue to work with regulators, the devolved administrations, and other key partners as we develop more consistent, efficient, and effective regulatory frameworks.