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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has to establish a Chief Environmental Health Officer role (1) to coordinate environmental health teams within local authorities, and (2) to provide advice and support to the Department.

The Department convened the Regulatory Services Task and Finish Group in December 2020 to help coordinate central government’s expectation of regulatory services teams in local government and propose short and long-term options to support the sector. The Group consists of senior officials from government departments and senior representatives from the Local Government Association and local authorities

The Group is now focussed on developing a suite of recommendations to address the immediate and systemic issues faced by regulatory services teams, which includes environmental health teams. These recommendations will address areas including the cross-government coordination of departments and the establishment of ongoing links with local authority experts.