Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of environmental health practitioners in local authorities in England in each of the last 10 years.

The Department has convened the Regulatory Services Task and Finish Group to understand the pressures facing regulatory services teams in local government, which includes Environmental Health, and propose short and long-term options to support the sector.

The Group consists of senior officials from government departments and representatives from local government and professional bodies. The Group has worked collaboratively with partners on several priority work areas, including understanding the size and composition of the environmental health workforce.