Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the Professional Standards Authority's Accredited Registers programme for the regulation of counselling and psychotherapy.

The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) operates an accredited voluntary register scheme for professions not subject to statutory regulation.

The Government values the scheme and the PSA quality mark demonstrates a register’s commitment to high standards of care and provides assurance around professional standards and ethical behaviours.

The scheme covers voluntary registers across a range of professions, including a number relating to counselling and psychotherapy.

The NHS.UK website sets out that professionals must be on one of the PSA’s accredited registers in order to work as a counsellor in the National Health Service.