Guidance

Professional Qualifications Act 2022 guidance: duties on regulators to provide information to regulators in another part of the UK (section 9)

Updated 30 January 2024

Introduction

This guidance is aimed at helping regulators of regulated professions understand their duties under the Professional Qualifications Act 2022 (PQ Act). Under section 9 of the PQ Act regulators are required to provide information to a regulator in another part of the UK 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 9 of the Act

In many cases information sharing between regulators in different parts of the UK happens voluntarily. Section 9 of the PQ Act provides a consistent legal basis for this information sharing to happen. Regulators in one part of the UK are required to provide information to a regulator in another part of the UK when requested to do so. This requirement applies when individuals entitled to practise in one part of the UK are seeking to practise in another part of the UK.

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

Information sharing between regulators can support professionals in gaining recognition to practise in other jurisdictions within the UK. This could remove delays to decision making by regulators, potentially accelerating the application process for individual professionals. It also helps regulators receiving the information to determine an individual’s entitlement to practise and regulate their professions effectively. This will have benefits for consumers, public health and the environment.

The requirements on regulators

Section 9 of the PQ Act applies when an individual is entitled to practise a regulated profession in one part of the UK and is seeking to practise the corresponding regulated profession in another part of the UK. For example, if a social worker that is entitled to practise in Wales is seeking to practise in Scotland. In this circumstance, section 9 places a duty on the regulator where the individual is entitled to practise to share information that they hold with the regulator where the individual wishes to practise. The information will need to be provided where it is requested by either the second regulator or the individual and is necessary to assess the individual’s entitlement to practise.

Information regulators need to share

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

A regulator in one part of the UK is only required to share information with their counterpart in another part of the UK 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.

In line with point i), the regulator need only provide information it already possesses and does not need to procure new information from the individual or any other sources in order to comply with a request.

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

This provision only applies to professions that are regulated separately in two or more parts of the UK and where there is more than one regulator operating in different parts of the UK. An example of such a profession is social workers. ​

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.

This requirement does not apply to professions regulated on a UK-wide basis because the individual will already be entitled to practise in all parts of the UK and does not need to seek entitlement to practise in another part of the UK.

UK regulators 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 may 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 been subject to disciplinary action, sanctions; or
• whether an individual has committed a criminal offence inside or outside of practice.

Other regulations for regulators to comply with

Section 8 the PQ Act places a duty on regulators to publish information about requirements to practise. Section 10 the PQ Act of the PQ Act places a duty on regulators to share information with regulators overseas, if requested, when a UK-qualified professional is seeking to practise overseas.

Worked example of a regulator complying with section 9

Hypothetical example

An individual works as a social worker in England and is seeking to practise as a social worker in Scotland.

The individual applies to the regulator in Scotland.

The regulator in Scotland requires information held by the regulator in England to support it in determining the individual’s entitlement to practise.

The regulator in Scotland asks the regulator in England for information relating to the individual’s entitlement to practise.

The request complies with section 9 and the regulator in England reviews its records for information it holds that relates to the individual’s entitlement to practise. The information could relate to the individual’s fitness to practise or include information about disciplinary action.

The regulator in England reviews the information to make sure that sharing it would not breach data protection legislation.

After conducting the review, the regulator in England is satisfied it is appropriate to share and sends it to the regulator in Scotland.

The regulator in Scotland uses the information received from the regulator in England as part of determining whether the individual is entitled to practise in Scotland.

Contact

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