Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2021 to Question 168907 on Health Services: Inspections, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor compliance with the new Care Quality Commission guidelines on closed cultures.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an independent body with statutory responsibility for monitoring, inspecting and regulating services that provide regulated activities within health and social care, to ensure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety. The CQC will therefore monitor compliance by providers of its guidelines on closed cultures.