
1 

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (Counselling Services) Regulations 2025 and come into force on 12th January 2026.
(2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, subject as follows.
(3) Insofar as these Regulations relate to the persons mentioned in section 44F(2) (application of Chapter 3A to service police etc) of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, these Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
2 
A counselling service is of a description specified for the purpose of section 44A(5) of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 if it is a service, whether paid or unpaid, offering psychological or emotional support to a service user for the purpose of improving the service user’s emotional or mental health.
Jess Phillips
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Home Office
2nd December 2025