Restricted – Draft Version 1
Foreword
Audits of Local Authorities’ food law enforcement services are part of the Food Standards Agency’s arrangements to improve consumer protection and confidence in relation to food. These arrangements recognise that the enforcement of UK food law relating to food safety, hygiene, composition, labelling, imported food and feeding stuffs is largely the responsibility of Local Authorities.
The full audit examines the Local Authority’s Food Law Enforcement Service. The assessment includes the local arrangements in place for inspections of food businesses and foodstuffs, sampling and analysis, internal management, food safety promotion and educational activities. It is acknowledged that there will be considerable diversity in the way and manner in which Local Authorities may provide their food enforcement services reflecting local needs and priorities.
Agency audits assess Local Authorities’ conformance against The Framework Agreement on Local Authority Food Law Enforcement “The Standard”, which was published by the Agency and is available on the Agency’s website at:
The main aim of the audit scheme is to maintain and improve consumer protection and confidence by ensuring that Local Authorities are providing an effective food law enforcement service. The scheme also provides the opportunity to identify and disseminate good practice and provide information to inform Agency policy on food safety.
The report contains some statistical data. The Agency’s website contains enforcement activity data for all UK Local Authorities and can be found at:
For assistance a Glossary of technical terms used within the audit report can be found in the Annex to this report.
Contents
Page1.0 / Introduction / 4
Reason for the Audit / 4
Audit Scope / 4
Background / 4
Resources / 5
2.0 / Executive Summary / 6
3.0 / Audit Findings / 7
3.1 / Organisation and Management / 7
3.2 / Review and Updating of Documented Policies and Procedures / 8
3.3 / Authorised Officers / 9
3.4 / Facilities and Equipment / 11
3.5 / Food and Feeding Stuffs Premises Inspections / 12
3.6 / Food, Feeding Stuffs and Food Premises Complaints / 14
3.7 / Food and Feeding Stuffs Premises Database / 15
3.8 / Food and Feeding Stuffs Inspection and Sampling / 16
3.9 / Food Safety Incidents / 17
3.10 / Enforcement / 18
3.11 / Records and Inspection Reports / 19
3.12 / Internal Monitoring / 20
4.0 / Previous Audits / 21
Action Plan for Clackmannanshire Council
Annex : Glossary
1.0Introduction
1.1This report records the results of the audit under the headings of the Food Standards Agency Food Law Enforcement Standard and has been made publicly available on the Food Standards Agency website at:
Reason for the Audit
1.2The power to set standards, monitor and audit Local Authority food law enforcement services was conferred on the Food Standards Agency by The Food Standards Act 1999 and Regulation 8 of The Official Feed and Food Controls (Scotland) Regulations 2005. The audit of the food service at Clackmannanshire Council was undertaken under section 12(4) of the Act and regulation 8(4) of the Regulations as part of the Agency in Scotland’s core audit programme.
Audit Scope
1.3The audit covered Clackmannanshire Council’s food hygiene and food standards law enforcement service. In relation to the Trading Standards function, Clackmannanshire Council has a joint working arrangement with Stirling Council. The audit of Clackmannanshire’s feeding stuffs law enforcement function was therefore covered during the Agency’s last audit of Stirling Council.
1.4The on-site element of the audit took place at Clackmannanshire Council’s offices at Lime Tree House, Castle Street, Alloa, on 26-28 September 2006.
1.5This core audit covered the following elements of The Standard:
- Organisation and Management
- Review and Updating of Documented Policies and Procedures
- Authorised Officers
- Facilities and Equipment
- Food and Feeding Stuffs Premises Inspections
- Food, Feeding Stuffs and Food Premises Complaints
- Food and Feeding Stuffs Premises Database
- Food and Feeding Stuffs Inspection and Sampling
- Food Safety Incidents
- Enforcement
- Records and Inspection Reports
- Internal Monitoring
Background
1.6Clackmannanshire Council’s area centres on the town of Alloa in the lowland belt of Central Scotland, bordering the River Forth. In terms of population, it is the smallest council area in mainland Scotland, with a population of 49,000, around half of who live in the main town and administrative centre of Alloa. Clackmannanshire is also developing as a tourist centre, resulting in a transient tourist population during the tourist season.
1.7The Authority’s area of approximately 30,377 acres includes a band of rural countryside, so that farms, dairies and private water supplies also fall within its responsibility. The main industries are agriculture and brewing.
1.8In 2006, permission was given for a waterfront development of the Docks area of Alloa, which has been in decline since the 1960s. A new railway line connecting Dunfermline and Stirling, reconnecting Alloa to the national rail network for the first time since 1968 is currently under construction.
Resources
1.9The Service Plan does not state the number of staff who are involved in food law enforcement, nor the budget allocation for the service, as required by The Standard in the Framework Agreement:
FoodStaffing / Not Stated
Training / Not Stated
Sampling and testing / Not Stated
Transport and equipment / Not Stated
Total / Not Stated
Executive Summary
2.1Clackmannanshire Council is a Scottish Unitary Local Authority and therefore has responsibility for enforcing food hygiene, food standards and feeding stuffs law within the Council’s area;
2.2The Authority has a Service Plan covering the food hygiene and food standards law enforcement services although it does not meet the requirements of the Service Planning Guidance in the Framework Agreement;
2.3The Authority has appointed authorised Officers and inspectors to enforce food and feeding stuffs law, and qualification and training records for food law enforcement Officers demonstrate that authorised Officers are appropriately qualified, although not all are receiving continuing development training in accordance with the Code of Practice;
2.4Food hygiene and food standards premises inspections are being conducted at the minimum frequencies required by the Code of Practice, although records relating to the inspection of establishments that are subject to Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004 are not sufficiently detailed in some cases to determine whether inspections have assessed compliance with all aspects of relevant legislation;
2.5Food sampling policies, procedures and programmes have been developed and are being implemented. Adverse food sample results are generally being followed-up appropriately;
2.6Officers use a range of informal and formal enforcement options to secure compliance, including letters, voluntary surrenders of food for destruction, hygiene improvement notices, and reports to the Procurator Fiscal for prosecution;
2.7The performance of the food law enforcement service is generally being monitored in accordance with required standards.
3.0Audit Findings
3.1Organisation and Management
3.1.1The Authority has a 2006-2009 Service Plan for the Development and Environmental Directorate, which was approved by the Performance and Audit Committee on 18 May 2006. The Service Plan covers the Environment Services Division, which includes the Environmental Health Department.
3.1.2The Service Plan includes the Authority’s food safety and standards enforcement service, but the level of detail in the Service Plan relating to the food law enforcement service does not meet the requirements of the Service Planning Guidance in the Framework Agreement.
3.1.3The Framework Agreement requires an annual performance review based on the service plan to be conducted, documented, and reported to Members and for any variances to be addressed in the following year’s service arrangements.
3.1.4An annual Service Plan review is carried out, but as it also only covers those aspects of the food law enforcement service that are covered by the Service Plan it does not meet the requirements of the Service Planning Guidance in the Framework Agreement.
3.1.5The Authority has adopted an alternative enforcement strategy for businesses in the lowest food hygiene and food standards risk categories. The strategy is set out in a separate document to the Service Plan.
3.1.6 / Non ConformityThe format and content, and annual performance review of the Authority’s Food Law Enforcement Service Plan do not meet the requirements of the Service Planning Guidance in Chapter 1 of the Framework Agreement.
[The Standard – 3.1]
3.2Review and Updating of Documented Policies and Procedures
3.2.1The Authority has a system for controlling documents, including policies, procedures and standard forms for the enforcement activities covered by the Standard in the Framework Agreement.
3.2.2Most internal policies and procedures have already been updated to take account of new legislation and also the Code of Practice that was issued in Scotland in October 2004. The remaining policies and procedures were in the process of being updated at the time of the audit.
3.2.3Officers have access to up to date copies of relevant documents, including legislation, the Code of Practice and Practice Guidance, Industry Guides, and other appropriate documentation. These are available both in hard copy and online via the Internet.
3.2.4Master copies of policies, procedures and standard documents are maintained in the food safety section. All Officers have access to the database procedure manual, working procedures manual and standard paragraphs folder.
3.2.5 / Non ConformityNone in this section
3.3Authorised Officers
3.3.1The Authority has a documented procedure for the authorisation of food law enforcement Officers in accordance with the Code of Practice.
3.3.2The current Scheme of Delegation enables the Executive Director to exercise the Authority’s statutory powers in relation to Public Health. This would include the authorisation of Officers under the Food Safety Act, the European Communities Act, the Food and Environment Protection Act, and regulations made thereunder.
3.3.3A new scheme of delegation that was being developed at the time of the audit appears to simplify the delegation procedure.
3.3.4Individual Officers are issued with a generic authorisation document that includes the Food Safety Act, the European Communities Act, the Food and Environment Protection Act, and Regulations made under those Acts.
3.3.5The extent of each individual Officer’s authorisation depends of qualifications and experience and is set out in a matrix, which is regularly reviewed at team meetings.
3.3.6The Officer authorisation documents that were seen during the course of the audit had all been issued and signed in accordance with the Scheme of Delegation.
3.3.7Records demonstrate that Officers are appropriately qualified for the range of duties they have been authorised to perform, and there is a personal development process during which Officers’ training needs are identified and an annual training plan produced.
3.3.8Training records are maintained by Officers themselves and in most cases are sufficient to demonstrate that the minimum of 10 hours per year food law related continuing development training is being achieved. However, this is not the case for all of the Officers who have been authorised under the Food Safety Act.
3.3.9The Authority has appointed appropriate lead Officers with responsibility for food safety and food standards legislation as required by the Food Safety Act Code of Practice.
3.3.10 / Non ConformityThe Authority has not ensured that all of its food law enforcement Officers who have been authorised under the Food Safety Act 1990 are meeting the food-law related continuing professional development requirements of the Code of Practice.
[The Standard – 5.3]
3.4Facilities and Equipment
3.4.1The Authority has made available the necessary facilities and equipment to permit activities associated with the service to be carried out.
3.4.2There is a documented procedure covering the calibration and maintenance of equipment that includes the measures that are to be taken to ensure that equipment is removed from service when found to be defective.
3.4.3Records that were checked during the audit demonstrated that thermometer reference test caps and the digital printing thermometer had been checked and calibrated in accordance with the documented procedure and calibration certificates were available.
3.4.4A dedicated Officer has responsibility for checking the accuracy of electronic thermometers that have been issued to Officers and for maintaining records. These checks had been carried out in accordance with the documented procedure and comprehensive records are maintained.
3.4.5It was evident from reports that were requested and produced during the course of the audit that the computer system is capable of providing information required by the Food Standards Agency.
3.4.6The Authority has security and backup systems that it is satisfied are sufficient to minimise the risk of corruption or loss of information held on the database.
3.4.7 / Non ConformityNone in this section
3.5Food and Feeding Stuffs Premises Inspections
Food Hygiene and Standards
3.5.1The Authority has a generic documented inspection procedure covering food hygiene and food standards inspections.
3.5.2Food hygiene inspection procedures have been updated to take account of Regulations (EC) Nos. 852 and 853/2004. There are also aides memoire covering primary hygiene inspections, secondary hygiene inspections, and food standards inspections.
3.5.3Completed aides memoire were on file in relation to the inspection records that were checked during the audit and these generally gave a comprehensive record of the inspection that had been carried out. However, the relevant inspection form for approved dairy product establishments was not being used at the time of the audit.
3.5.4Files relating to seven premises that are subject to Regulation 852/2004, nine premises that are subject to food standards regulations, and one subject to Regulation 853/2004 were checked. All had been inspected at the correct frequency, having regard to the Code of Practice.
3.5.5Inspections of the establishment that had been approved under Regulation 853/2004 had also been conducted at the correct frequency. However, it was not evident from the information on file that primary and secondary inspections had assessed compliance with all aspects of the relevant regulations, as set out in the Code of Practice.
3.5.6Two spreadsheets that were produced from the database during the audit indicated that no food hygiene or food standards inspections were overdue at the time of the audit. However, they did reveal a small number of apparent anomalies in the data, although these were either already known to the Authority or could be explained satisfactorily.
3.5.7 / Non ConformityIn relation to businesses that are subject to Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004, the Authority is not able to demonstrate that the scope of inspections meets the requirements of the Code of Practice.
[The Standard – 7.2]
3.6Food, Feeding Stuffs and Food Premises Complaints
3.6.1The Authority has a documented procedure covering the investigation of consumer complaints about food although this does not currently cover complaints about the hygiene of food premises. The procedure also needs to be updated to take account of changes to the Code of Practice.
3.6.2Records of one food hygiene complaint, six complaints about the hygiene of food premises and one complaint relating to food standards were examined and compared against the Code of Practice, centrally issued guidance, and the Authority’s own documented procedure.
3.6.3With the exception of one complaint, appropriate investigations had been carried out in all cases in accordance with relevant documented procedures and centrally issued guidance.
3.6.4Complainants and businesses had generally been updated about the progress of the investigation and advised of the outcome, although in one case the proposed follow-up revisit had not taken place due to a lack of staff resources at the time.
3.6.5 / Non ConformityNone in this section
3.7Food and Feeding Stuffs Premises Database
3.7.1The Authority has set up a database of premises in its area that are subject to food law enforcement, and has documented procedures for keeping the database accurate and up to date.
3.7.2Fifteen food business addresses were randomly selected from the local 2006/07 business directory and checked against the database. Fourteen were recorded on the database and the fifteenth was outwith the Authority’s area.
3.7.3Twelve of the addresses had been recorded as food businesses on the database and all twelve had been included in the food hygiene and food standards inspection programmes.
3.7.4The remaining two addresses were not recorded as food business premises on the database, although the Authority was already aware of one of these, having received an enquiry from the occupier about starting-up a food business. This was in the process of being dealt with at the time of the audit.
3.7.5Two spreadsheets that were produced from the database during the audit showed that similar numbers of businesses were included in the planned food hygiene and food standards inspection programmes.
3.7.6It appeared that the Authority’s monitoring returns to the Agency gave a generally accurate picture of the Authority’s food law enforcement activities and planned food hygiene and standards inspection programmes.
3.7.7 / Non ConformityNone in this section
3.8Food and Feeding Stuffs Inspection and Sampling
3.8.1The Authority has documented food-sampling policies; procedures and programmes covering participation in co-ordinated surveys, sampling of locally produced food, and sampling in connection with consumer complaints and other incidents.
3.8.2The auditors examined records of eight food samples, all of which had been taken in accordance with the planned programme. All had been followed-up by a letter to the proprietor concerned and liaison with the originating authority where appropriate.
3.8.3Food sample results were recorded on the Scottish Food Surveillance System database and hard copy records retained in the office. Results reported as unsatisfactory had been notified to the business concerned.
3.8.4Unsatisfactory results had also been followed-up by visits to the business concerned, advice to the proprietor, and further sampling as appropriate.
3.8.5 / Non ConformityNone in this section
3.9Food Safety Incidents