Official Feed and Food Controls Service Plan 2023/24
Mid Year Report
1 April to 30 September 2023
Introduction
The Official Feed and Food Controls Service Plan 2023/24 was approved at Committee on 14 March 2023 and it was requested that a progress report would be presented at Committee in the autumn of 2023.
Each year a service plan is presented to committee which sets out the service delivery plan for the year and details the numbers of programmed inspections and other food service interventions. It also considers available resources required for completion of the plan.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have assessed the service plan regarding the Food Hygiene function and fully support the innovative approaches being taken to enable the plan to be fulfilled.
However, the FSA have expressed concern regarding resourcing of the Food Standards function, where 4.8 Full Time Equivalent staff (FTE) would be required to fully meet the requirements of the Food Law Code of Practice and[JW1] 1.6 FTE are available.
The following information details the performance of food service delivery from 1 April to 30 September 2023.
Food Hygiene Interventions
The following table displays the food premises risk category, A being highest risk and D being lower risk which received an inspection. The frequency of inspections for Category A – C is in adherence to the Code of Practice.
|
Risk Category/ Frequency of Intervention |
Number of Food Premises that received an onsite intervention |
|
A/ every 6 months |
1 |
|
B/ every 12 months |
28 |
|
C/ every 18 months |
107 |
|
D/ every 24 months |
56 |
|
Unrated/new food registrations |
131 |
The following table displays the number of completed interventions which took place at premises which were overdue for an inspection (overdue as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic when normal service delivery was paused).
Flexibilities within the Food Law Code of Practice have facilitated an innovative approach to dealing with these premises. This has taken the form of holding educational workshops as an alternative to an inspection.
|
Outstanding interventions by type |
Number of food premises who attended an educational workshop |
|
Category D premises due before 31 March 2023 |
396 |
Food Standards Interventions
The following table highlights food standards categories and the level of compliance with the service plan.
|
Food Standards Category |
Number of premises which received an intervention |
|
A (high risk) |
All high risk premises. |
|
B&C (medium or low risk) |
All in compliance with current normal frequencies. |
The implementation of the new Food Standards Delivery model ranges from January 2024 to March 2025, and consideration of adequate resources is necessary. It is not yet clear what the impact will be, however there is likely to be an additional resource requirement of up to 4.8FTE[JW2] needed to fully comply with the new Food Law Code of Practice.
As in previous years we have a locally agreed target of 100% of all high-risk food, with no target for overall numbers. Rather than having additional targets for medium and low risk inspections, we shall continue to adopt an intelligence and market surveillance lead approach which focuses on making a difference and demonstrating positive impacts for our residents and businesses[JW3] .
Staffing Allocations
Food Hygiene
There are 6.87 FTE Professional posts, 3.87 FTE are competent to undertake food hygiene controls, 2 FTE are Technical Officers working towards food competency and 1 FTE vacant post which is in the recruitment process.
Food Standards
There are 1.6 FTE professional posts available to undertake food standards controls.
Summary
Food Hygiene
Food Hygiene service delivery for high-risk premises (Cat A- C) is currently at normal intervention frequencies.
It is estimated that the second half of this financial year, 1 October 2023 to 31 March 2024, all high-risk premises (Cat A-C, Food Hygiene) will be carried out at normal intervention frequencies.
Educational workshops will continue for the remainder of Category D premises and be continued for appropriate Category E premises (low risk premises).
The fulfilment of the plan is dependent on the ability to recruit to a currently vacant post.
Food Standards
The implementation of the new Food Standards Delivery model ranges from January 2024 to March 2025, and consideration of adequate resources is necessary for the next financial year.