Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Care Quality Commission's regulatory oversight of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust's adult community mental health services in Lambeth.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an independent regulator, responsible for assessing and monitoring providers in line with its statutory remit. The Department holds the CQC to account for its overall performance and delivery of its regulatory functions.

The CQC is undertaking a programme of improvement, and the Department continues to engage closely with CQC leadership to monitor progress through regular sponsorship and accountability meetings.

The CQC has maintained ongoing regulatory engagement with the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust following its 2025 inspections, using a combination of continuous monitoring, engagement with the trust and system partners, and targeted follow-up activity to ensure risks are managed and improvements are supported and sustained.