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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage recruitment in the environmental health profession.

The Department has convened the Regulatory Services Task and Finish Group to help coordinate central government's expectation of 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 is now focussed on developing a suite of recommendations, including measures that could support the attraction and recruitment of environmental health officers and increase the number of regulatory apprentices in local authorities.