To comment on the Draft Service Plan 2018/19 for Food Law Enforcement.
Contact:S Walford 388002
Minutes:
With the assistance of a report by the Head of Community (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Committee considered the contents of the 2018-19 Draft Service Plan for Food Law Enforcement .
Members were reminded that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) requires every local authority to outline how it will fulfil its duty to deliver official food controls within the District. The arrangements detailing how and at what level the official controls will be delivered must be laid down in the form of a Service Plan for Food Law Enforcement.
Members were advised that the Draft Plan for 2018-19 sets out how the food safety and hygiene function within the Council will be delivered over the coming year and details the resources required to deliver the service, together with a review of the previous year’s performance. Members were advised that the resources available to deliver the Plan were unchanged from the previous year, however at present there continued to be two vacancies (1.7FTEs) within the Business Team which had had an impact on the work undertaken in the current year.
The Committee’s attention was also drawn to the Service’s Key Priorities for the coming year, these included:
v ‘Better Business for All’ to provide transparent, consistent and accessible regulatory advice;
v Adopting clear messages to communicate effectively to local business how to comply with legislation;
v Targeting low performing businesses with additional coaching and advice; and
v The introduction of new regulations to reduce acrylamide in foods.
Arising from which, Members also emphasised the need for the Authority to continue to promote positive messages to the public regarding to the work which was being undertaken by the Team in the public interest.
In terms of the resources which were available to deliver the food law enforcement function in 2018/19, the Head of Community explained that overheads and direct costs were still unconfirmed as there had been no agreement as yet on a pay award for District Council employees for the forthcoming year. He undertook to provide an update on these costs to the Committee’s next meeting should this be required. The achievement of income targets would be depended on the degree of primary authority activity, requests for export certificates and the number of Food Hygiene rescore visits requested by businesses.
In response to Members questions regarding the ongoing vacancies within the Business Team, the Committee were advised that this was a problem for a number of authorities and the positions had recently been re-advertised for a further time. Members were assured that the Business Team currently had sufficient resources to undertake their statutory requirements, however should a major incident occur then there may be an impact on the programme of inspections.
In reviewing the predicted programme of proactive activity, Members commented on the predicted increase in the number of formal actions in 2018/19 compared to the current year. It was reported that this was based upon national averages and the levels with the Council’s Business Team felt able to cope with.
Having noted that major outdoor events during the course of a year can have an impact on the delivery of the Service Plan, reference was made to the forthcoming St Neots Water Festival and the requirements that this may generate for the team. The Committee were advised that the Council would engage with the event organisers through the Safety Advisory Group to ensure the necessary precautions were in place/ establish whether it was necessary to make visits to the Festival itself.
In terms of other issues which could impact on the implementation of the plan, Members noted that these could include changes to the operating model for food law enforcement and legislative changes once the UK has negotiated its exit from the EU.
The Committee then went on to discuss the Food Hygiene Rating System – ‘Scores on the Doors’ and were informed that the Government were yet to legislate on the mandatory display of scores at food premises.
In response to a suggestion from the Chairman, the Committee went on to discuss whether the Council should adopt a more proactive approach to encourage all local businesses to aspire to 4 star rating. The Head of Community explained that the 3 star rating meant that a business was broadly compliant and currently over 90% of food businesses with Huntingdonshire had secured this level. It would be preferable in his opinion to target / take a more robust approach with those businesses who had only secured a low rating (through initiatives such as Coaching for Compliance). Once these issues had been dealt with the Council could consider a change in its approach.
Whereupon, it was
RESOLVED
that the Draft Service Plan for Food Law Enforcement 2018-19 be approved in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.
Supporting documents: