§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many qualified environmental health officers are currently employed by local authorities in England; how many vacancies for such officers exist; and what action he is taking to ensure that a sufficient number of officers will be available in future.
§ Mr. KeyInformation on the numbers of qualified environmental health officers is not collected by my Department. It is for each local authority with powers in this field to decide how many officers are needed and to make arrangements for recruiting them.