Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evidence exists to suggest that the statutory regulation of non-medical public health specialists is necessary because of a risk to public safety.

The Government made a careful assessment of the level of risk posed by non-medical public health specialists before deciding to extend statutory regulation. Although there is no evidence that a non-medical public health specialist has acted in a way that has put the public at harm, in view of the rising proportion of public health specialists that do not have a medical or dental background and given the critical leadership role that public health consultants play in protecting the public from harm, the Government believes that there is a need to introduce statutory regulation for this group of professionals.