Guidance

Professional Qualifications Act 2022 guidance: duties on regulators to provide information to overseas regulators (section 10)

Updated 30 January 2024

Introduction

This guidance is aimed at helping regulators of regulated professions, to understand their duties under the Professional Qualifications Act (PQ Act). Under section 10 of the PQ Act regulators in the UK are required to provide information to a regulator overseas, when requested to do so.

The Professional Qualifications Act 2022

Professions provide a range of services to our citizens and businesses, as well as providing services overseas. In many areas professions are regulated in law, so an individual must fulfil certain legal requirements to carry out specific professional activities or use a protected title, such as ‘architect’. Professional qualification recognition can enable the UK to access international talent in the form of skilled professionals from overseas.

The PQ Act received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022. The Act allows for a new approach for assessing individuals with overseas professional qualifications or experience. As part of this approach and in line with existing powers, regulators’ autonomy is protected in relation to determining entry requirements for a profession and assessing whether individuals are fit to practise.

The Act will revoke the current system for recognising overseas qualifications, based on EU rules. It allows for the creation of new routes for assessing individuals with qualifications or experience from overseas where there is unmet demand for the services of a profession in the UK. It contains provisions to enable the implementation of the UK’s international agreements which contain provisions on the recognition of professional qualifications (e.g., with Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein). It also provides powers to enable regulators to conclude recognition agreements with their overseas counterparts. The Act also takes targeted steps to improve the regulation of professions, such as through improving information sharing between regulators and increasing transparency of entry and practice requirements.

The new legal requirement on regulators under section 10 of the Act

In many cases regulators in the UK already cooperate with their overseas counterparts in relation to the sharing of information. Section 10 provides a consistent legal basis for this information sharing to happen. Regulators in the UK are required to provide information to regulators overseas when requested to do so. This requirement applies to information required to help determine an individual’s entitlement to practise overseas.

The date this new legal requirement comes into effect

The duty for regulators to share information applies from 28 October 2022.

The reasoning for a new legal requirement on regulators

To support individuals that are entitled to practise in the UK to gain entitlement to practise overseas where they are seeking to do so.

The requirements on regulators

Section 10 of the PQ Act applies when an individual is entitled to practise a regulated profession in the UK, or part of the UK, and is seeking to practise a corresponding profession overseas. In this circumstance, section 10 places a duty on the regulator in the UK to provide certain information that they hold to the corresponding regulator overseas, if requested, and with the permission of the individual.

Information regulators need to share

The requirement for regulators to share information is subject to the following conditions:

A regulator in the UK is only required to share information with a corresponding regulator overseas if the information:

i) is held by the first regulator;
ii) relates to the named individual;
iii) is requested by their counterpart regulator in another part of the UK or by the individual concerned; and
iv) is requested for the purpose of determining that individual’s entitlement to practise.

The regulator does not need to procure new information from the individual or any other sources to comply with the request.

The information sharing must, however, still be conducted in line with relevant UK data protection legislation.

Where the individual is not the one who requested that the information be shared (i.e. where the overseas regulator raised the request) the individual must have given permission to the overseas regulator to request the information for the duty under section 10 to apply. Without permission from the individual, the duty under section 10 does not apply. Outside of the legal basis that section 10 provides, regulators may still share certain information with regulators overseas voluntarily or under a separate legal basis.

There is no set time for a regulator to provide the information requested, although they may wish to respond in a timely manner as a matter of good practice.

There is no set format that the information must be provided in.

The decision about whether the individual can practise outside the UK is a matter for the overseas regulator.

Regulators in the UK will have to share information relating to an individual’s entitlement to practise. The Act provides flexibility on the exact information to be shared, which is best determined by regulators as the experts in information related to their profession. For example, fitness to practise may for some professions consist of medical and eyesight tests, while for other professions it can be a broader assessment of professional conduct.

Information could include but is not limited to:

• information on entitlement to practise such as notice of registration documents or fitness to practise documentation;
• any evidence of professional misconduct against an individual;
• whether an individual has ever committed a criminal offence inside or outside of practice; or
• whether an individual has ever been subject to a disciplinary action or sanctions.

Other regulations for regulators to comply with

Section 10(4) also includes a power to allow the UK government and devolved administrations to make additional regulations where they consider appropriate in connection with this duty. For example, regulations may make provision to restrict requests to only very specific information to be shared, or information to only be shared on receipt of a specified fee. A regulator will be notified, in a timely manner, if there are any such plans from the relevant appropriate national authority in the UK government or devolved administration.

Section 9 the PQ Act places a duty on regulators in one part of the UK to share information with a regulator in another part of the UK when requested to do so.

Section 8 the PQ Act also includes a power to allow the UK government and devolved administrations to make regulations, where they consider appropriate, to specify additional information on requirements to practise which must also published on regulator websites. Regulators will be notified, in a timely manner, if there are any such plans.

Worked example of a regulator complying with section 10

Hypothetical example

A UK qualified statutory auditor is seeking to practise in Canada. They contact the Canadian regulator to open an application to be able to practise in Canada.

The Canadian regulator considers whether the individual’s UK gained professional qualification can be recognised and conducts other checks to help them determine whether the individual should be entitled to practise in Canada.

The Canadian regulator identifies that further information is required from the regulator in the UK to help them determine the entitlement of the individual to practise.

The regulator in Canada asks the individual for permission to request information from the regulator in the UK for the purpose of determining the individual’s entitlement to practise. The individual grants permission.

The Canadian regulator requests that the regulator in the UK provide information about the individual that is required to assess their entitlement to practise and provides evidence of the individual’s permission for them to do so. The regulator in the UK is satisfied that the individual has provided their permission for the request to be made by the Canadian regulator.

The regulator in the UK identifies what information it holds on the individual that is required by the Canadian regulator to assess the individual’s entitlement to practise. The regulator in the UK checks that in sharing the information it would be in compliance with the relevant data protection legislation.

The regulator in the UK responds to the regulator in Canada, providing information to help the regulator in Canada determine the individual’s entitlement to practise.

The regulator in Canada concludes its determination on whether the individual is entitled to practise and informs the individual of the decision.

Contact

For further information or if you have questions on this guidance, please contact [email protected].