Food law enforcement plan

Review

6.1 Review against the Service Plan

Performance against this Service Plan will be reviewed at the end of 2022-23 and will be reported as part of the Service Plan for 2023-24. The feedback given will include information on levels of compliance with all aspects of the Plan, including specified performance targets and standards, and other stated outcomes.

6.2 Identification of any Variation from the Service Plan

The review against this Service Plan will identify any areas where the Authority was at variance from the Plan and, where appropriate, the reasons for that variance. If additional work is carried out in other areas of food law enforcement, which is considered to have achieved the same objective, this will be identified clearly.

6.3 Areas for Improvement

The review against this Service Plan will set out any relevant improvements or service developments identified, either as a result of reviewing the Plan or as a result of performance and quality assessments.

6.4 Food Standards Agency Wales (FSAW) Audits

6.4.1 Full Food Law Enforcement Audits

An audit of the whole of the Food Law Service was last carried out by FSAW in July 2016, the first full audit since 2004. The final report and agreed action plan was received in April 2018 and the action plan will be implemented and reviewed during 2018 in advance of a follow-up visit. 

6.4.2 Official Controls in Approved Establishments

In November 2009 the Authority was subject to a focused audit of its Official Controls in Approved Establishments by the Agency. The final report was released in January 2010 and a 4 point action plan provided for the Authority as follows:

• ensure that all documented policies and procedures for each of the enforcement activities covered by The Standard are reviewed in accordance with the Authority’s own procedure.
• ensure the training of all authorised officers and appropriate support staff in the technical and administrative aspects of the work in which they will be involved and to have completed the requisite 10 hours of food related training as required by the Food Law Code of Practice (Wales)
• carry out food law enforcement in accordance with the Food Law Code of Practice (Wales) and ensure that reasons for any departure from the criteria set out in the enforcement policy are documented
• undertake its internal monitoring programme in accordance with its own documented procedure and retain records of internal monitoring for at least 2 years

While significant progress has been made in these areas since that time, this continues to require ongoing management commitment.

6.4.3 ‘LA response to the recommendations following the Public Enquiry into the 2005 Outbreak of E.coli O157 in SE Wales’ and ‘LA arrangements for new businesses’.

In January 2014, the Authority was one of six Welsh local authorities selected by the Food Standards Agency Wales to be visited, to undertake a ‘reality check’ on two areas subject to a desktop assessment across all Welsh authorities. These areas were:

• the LA response to the recommendations following the Public Enquiry into the 2005 Outbreak of E.coli O157 in SE Wales; and
• the LA’s arrangements for dealing with new businesses.

The final report was received in February 2015, and an action plan prepared to respond to two issues, namely:

• To establish a system of ‘red-flagging’ issues, concerns or potential problems at the end of each inspection to alert future inspecting officers.
• The approach to the recording of new businesses to be revised to include the date trading is expected to commence/actually commenced, to facilitate monitoring against the target that ‘high risk’ premises be inspected within 28 days of commencing trading.
• Food premises inspection forms to be completed sufficiently in all cases to verify that a thorough assessment of compliance with requirements in relation to HACCP has been undertaken and to verify that requirements relating to food labelling and/or compositional requirements had been fully considered.

These points have been addressed, but will again require ongoing monitoring and reinforcement in certain cases.