Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is a minimum age requirement to be a practitioner of non-therapeutic male circumcision.

There is no requirement in law for a practitioner performing non-therapeutic male circumcision (NTMC) to be medically trained or to be of a minimum age. If an NMTC procedure is carried out by a regulated healthcare professional, they will be subject to oversight by the relevant professional regulator such as the General Medical Council for doctors or the Nursing and Midwifery Council for nurses and midwives.

If a regulated healthcare professional is acting in a religious or spiritual role, they cannot ‘opt out’ of their core duties and responsibilities, and therefore any registered healthcare professional wishing to carry out NTMC must be registered with the Care Quality Commission to carry out the regulated activity of surgical procedures.