To receive the monitoring report on the delivery of the Food Law Enforcement and Health and Safety Service Plan for the period 1st October to 31st December 2020.
Contact:M Bebbington - (01480) 387075
Minutes:
With the assistance of a report by the Acting Operational Manager (Business) (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Committee received an update on progress made against the delivery of work on the Council’s Food Law Enforcement and Health and Safety Plans during the period 1st October to 31st December 2020.
The Committee were advised that once again the period had been significantly dominated by the impact of the current Covid Pandemic.
In terms of the delivery of the Food Law Enforcement Plan, Members noted that the key activities of compliance visits, approved premises inspections and other proactive visits were all classified as ‘Red’. This was a direct result of the second suspension of physical inspections in November 2020 by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). This and the suspension earlier in the year had significantly impacted the number of planned food hygiene inspections for 2020/21, such that only 64 had been conducted at the end of Quarter 3, out of a predicted target of 550 by the end of the year. Whilst a programme of remote ‘virtual’ inspections had been undertaken, these did not classify as inspections for the purpose of FSA reporting. Members were advised that a plan of action was now in place to address the backlog once inspections were permitted to restart. However, it was unlikely that the reporting position would change by the end of the reporting year.
Members noted that work to target new business registrations had been successful during the reporting period and remained on target for completion by the end of the year.
Clarification was then sought and obtained as to how ‘high risk’ premises which required an immediate an urgent visit during the pandemic were identified, particularly in view of the fact that food delivery businesses and takeaways were continuing to operate. In response to a question, Members were also reminded that there were processes in place for the NHS to notify the local authority of any cases of food poisoning or infectious diseases that were presented to them. This would then result in a thorough and robust investigation by the District Council.
In relation to the Health and Safety Service Plan, the Committee were informed that health and safety activity had increased significantly and was forecast to remain high for the foreseeable future due to the ongoing pandemic.
Having recognised the difficult circumstances during the course of the year and the forecast for a significant increase in health and safety activity going forward, Members discussed the ability of the Council to address this extra influx of activity. Whilst the Acting Operational Manager was confident that the work would be managed, this had been made more difficult following the recent resignation of a member of the team and efforts would need to be made to ensure that it was resourced accordingly.
Having welcomed the introduction of a plan of action to address the backlog of food safety inspections, it was
RESOLVED
that progress on the delivery of the two Services Plans for the period 1st October to 31st December 2020 be noted.
(At 14.14pm, at the conclusion of this item, Councillor J Clarke joined the meeting).
Supporting documents: