Issue - meetings

It was noted that on the performance overview report there were three areas that were flagged as red and these all related to food hygiene/food inspections. Members were reminded of the report  which outlined the Food Safety Action Plan—this Plan had been presented to the Committee in June 2021. The Food Standards Agency had indicated at that time, that they expected the Council to be back on track in terms of inspections within three years. The Assistant Director for Public Protection and Enforcement reminded the Committee that the Council’s Food Safety Action Plan aimed for a more rapid recovery within one year.

It was noted that the Council was using agency workers to help out. There was a shortage of qualified Food Safety Officers and this was a national problem. Because of this it could be the case that the Food Standards Agency may need to amend regulations to make it easier for people to qualify to undertake inspections. The Assistant Director explained that apprentices were currently being used and it was hoped to upskill them and send them on courses to make them competent as soon as possible. This was difficult as generally speaking it took around three years to become fully qualified. There was no legal requirement for newly qualified people to stay with the Council even if financial penalties were written into the contract to try and prevent them from leaving. In the current market it was the case that a new employer may decide to cover any financial penalties in order to recruit properly qualified Food Safety Officers; so retention was an additional problem.

The Committee discussed the current situation regarding the inspection of HMOs (Houses of Multiple Occupation). A backlog of inspections existed due to the problems that had been imposed by the Covid lockdowns. 

The Chairman asked if it was possible that some HMOs may never be inspected because of the backlog. The Assistant Director for Public Protection and Enforcement said that this would not happen and that they would all be inspected within the statutory time scales. At the moment, the Council was making good progress with inspections and currently only 22 HMOs had not been inspected. These were being prioritised on a risk basis. The way that the risk was assessed would be with respect to the number of storeys in the building, the number of tenants, the type of owner, the type of HMO and the complexity of the layout. 

RESOLVED that the Performance Overview report be noted.