food service plan

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2013/2014

PLANNING AND PUBLIC PROTECTION

TORFAEN County Borough Council

FOOD SERVICE PLAN

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FOREWORD

By Councillor Gwyneria Clark Executive Member: Housing, Planning and Public Protection

This plan has been prepared in accordance with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) Framework Agreement on Local Authority Food Law Enforcement. Local authorities are required to produce such a plan annually, which is intended to show how we: -

follow the principles of good regulation;

focus on key delivery issues and outcomes;

provide an essential link with corporate planning;

set objectives for the future, and identify major issues that cross service boundaries;

provide a means of managing performance and making performance comparisons; and

provide information on an authority’s service delivery to stakeholders, including businesses and consumers.

What follows demonstrates Torfaen County Borough Council’s commitment to protecting residents from the health risks posed by poor food hygiene, and from poor quality, out of date or mis-described food and feeding stuffs. The teams carrying out this area of enforcement have an excellent track record, working with consumers and the trade to raise the standard of food preparation, presentation and supply throughout the County Borough, while at the same time taking timely and effective action against those that flout the law. This is a service for which I am proud to be responsible.

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SUMMARY This Service Plan lays out how Torfaen County Borough Council will work over the coming year to ensure that food manufactured or sold in Torfaen is safe and complies with the law. The format of this Plan meets the requirements laid down by the Food Standards Agency, and is designed to ensure that local people and residents can clearly see what we do, how our services are delivered and what resources we have available to us to do this. It also allows the Food Standard Agency to assess the services that we offer, so that they can ensure that our services meet the standards required and that we are effectively implementing and enforcing national law at a local level. In brief, this Plan explains that

We carry out the full range of food hygiene and food standards work as required by the Food Standards Agency, including inspections, sampling and responding to complaints and service requests.

We also carry out a range of advisory work, to help local businesses and residents ensure that food manufactured sold and consumed in the Torfaen area is safe, wholesome and accurately labelled.

Our feeding-stuff enforcement role (which relates to food feed for farm animals etc.) is carried out in partnership with Monmouthshire County Council, as they can carry this work out more effectively as part of their wider animal health role (which they also deliver on behalf of Torfaen)

The focus of this service is on ensuring that all food produced and sold in Torfaen is safe and wholesome to eat. The overall cost of this service in the coming year will be around £220,000, which is equivalent to around £2.40 per year per Torfaen resident.

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CONTENTS

FOREWARD.........................................................................................................................2

SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................... 3

SERVICE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................................... 6

1.1 Aims and Objectives......................................................................................................................................... 6

1.2 Links to Corporate Objectives ......................................................................................................................... 7

1.3 Links to National the Enforcement Priorities for Wales ................................................................................. 7

BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................. 8

2.1 Profile of the Authority .................................................................................................................................... 8

2.2 Organisational Structure ................................................................................................................................. 8

2.3 Scope of the Food Service................................................................................................................................10

2.4 Demands on the Food Service .........................................................................................................................11 2.4.1 Food Hygiene Premises Data ....................................................................................................................11 2.4.2 Food Standards Premises Data..................................................................................................................12 2.4.3 Feeding stuffs Premises Data ....................................................................................................................12 2.4.4 The Food Hygiene and Standards premises data........................................................................................12

2.5 Delivering the Service .....................................................................................................................................13

2.6 Enforcement Policies .......................................................................................................................................13

SERVICE DELIVERY ........................................................................................................ 15

3.1 Food and feed-stuffs Premises Inspections .....................................................................................................15 3.1.1 Food Inspections ......................................................................................................................................15 3.1.1a Other Food Enforcement Interventions .....................................................................................................16 3.1.1b The National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme .........................................................................................17 3.1.2 Actions following inspections ..................................................................................................................17 3.1.3 Recording Inspections ..............................................................................................................................18 3.1.4 Reducing the impact of enforcement on businesses ...................................................................................18

3.2 Food and feeding stuffs complaints .................................................................................................................18

3.3 Home Authorities and Primary Authorities ...................................................................................................19 3.3.1 The Primary Authority Scheme ................................................................................................................19

3.4 Advice to Businesses ........................................................................................................................................19

3.5 Food and feeding stuffs sampling....................................................................................................................20

3.6 Control and investigation of food related infectious disease ..........................................................................21

3.7 Food Safety Alerts ...........................................................................................................................................21

3.8 Liaison with other organisations .....................................................................................................................21

3.9 Food safety and standards promotion ............................................................................................................21

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RESOURCES .................................................................................................................... 23

4.1 Financial Allocation ........................................................................................................................................23

4.2 Staffing Allocation ...........................................................................................................................................24

4.3 Staffing Development Plan ..............................................................................................................................25

QUALITY ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................. 26

5.1 Quality Assessment .........................................................................................................................................26

5.2 Customer Consultation and Feedback ............................................................................................................27

5.3 Formal Complaints .........................................................................................................................................27

REVIEWS .......................................................................................................................... 28

6.1 Reviews against the Service Plan ....................................................................................................................28

6.2 Identification of any Variation from the Service Plan ....................................................................................28

6.3 Areas for Improvement ...................................................................................................................................29

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Service Aims and Objectives

1.1 Aims and Objectives It is this Authority’s aim to ensure that public health is protected through the efficient and effective enforcement of any food safety laws falling to Torfaen County Borough Council for enforcement. Key to the way in which we deliver this service are the five principles of good regulation: -

targeting (to take a risk-based approach);

proportionality (such as only intervening where necessary);

accountability (to explain and justify service levels and decisions to the public and to stakeholders);

consistency (to apply regulations consistently to all parties); and

transparency (being open and user-friendly). The objectives of the authority are decided annually and are contained in the Service Improvement Plan for the Planning and Public Protection Service, which can be found on the Torfaen web-site at www.torfaen.gov.uk. These objectives and specific workload targets are explained more fully in the team work programmes (the food enforcement work programme is attached as Appendix 1, and this explains how many inspections and other food based enforcement activities we are planning to carry out in 2012/13) The delivery of the food enforcement services is carried out as follows: - Food Hygiene services Food, Health and Safety Team Food Standards services Trading Standards Team Feeding-stuffs services The Food, Health and Safety Team, in partnership with

the Monmouthshire County Council Animal Health team. The achievements of each team against agreed objectives are monitored at least quarterly, in order that any shortfalls can be rectified. Any shortfalls in inspection levels that can not be rectified will be included in the targets for the following year.

In November 2010 the Authority’s food safety service was audited by The Food Standards Agency Wales (FSA). The report has been agreed and an Action Plan developed by the authority to rectify any issues found, and these can both be viewed on the FSA website at http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2011/jan/audittorfaencbc. The audit findings were generally positive about how the Council go about its food hygiene enforcement, and this service will continue to improve now that the Action Plan has been implemented. In October 2011, the feeding-stuffs service was audited by the Food Standards Agency, and this showed weaknesses in the service. This was expected, as there are only a limited number of low-risk premises in Torfaen, and feeding-stuff enforcement had not therefore been prioritised or fully resourced. Changes and improvements to the service will,

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http://www.torfaen.gov.uk/

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2011/jan/audittorfaencbc

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however, depend on whether the delivery of feeding stuff enforcement changes to a regional or national format, and whether enforcement remains with local authorities or is taken back “in-house” by the Food Standards Agency. The outcomes of any internal and external audits are reflected in the Service Improvement Plan for the following year where necessary, to ensure that any action plan is completed.

1.2 Links to Corporate Objectives The aims and objectives of the authority in respect of Food and Feed Law are drawn up annually by the teams responsible for enforcement of this legislation, and are then integrated into the Planning and Public Protection Service Improvement Plan (SIP). The SIP is intended to: -

Integrate with the corporate objectives and values (which can be viewed in more detail via the Torfaen website at www.torfaen.gov.uk.)

Ensure that key performance indicators are included and monitored, so that the efficiency and effectiveness of the service can be clearly demonstrated and performance compared to that of other local authorities.

Link to the Wales Programme for Improvement Process, to ensure that reviews are carried out and any findings are implemented to continually improve the service.

Link to the Community Strategy and other local health strategies, alliances and partnerships as appropriate, to ensure that work to ensure the safety of food in Torfaen can be carried out at all levels and in conjunction with other work.

Specific work targets are attached to this service plan. The Service Improvement Plan, the Food Service Plan and any associated policies are subject to member approval.

1.3 Links to the National Enforcement Priorities for Wales When drawing up the Service Improvement Plan, regard is had to the National Enforcement Priorities for Wales, prepared by the Local Better Regulation Office for the Welsh Assembly Government. In particular, the following priorities are addressed

Ensuring the safety and quality of the food chain to minimise risk to human and animal health

Approval of food manufacturing premises Hygiene inspections of food businesses Standards inspections of food businesses

Promoting a fair and just trading environment for citizens and business

Supporting business through advice

Protecting individuals from harm and promoting health improvement

Ensuring nutritional standards


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Background

2.1 Profile of the Authority Torfaen County Borough Council is situated in South-East Wales. It has 3 major population centres with a total population of around 91,000 people. The Torfaen area is dominated by the new town of Cwmbran, which has a mix of housing, light industry and retail areas, including a large and expanding regional shopping centre. The towns of Pontypool & Blaenavon are older and are subject to various improvement strategies, although it is recognised that some areas in these towns have high levels of deprivation and ill-health. Blaenavon is a world heritage site, and this area of the district is consequently attracting new investment. The Torfaen area has a thriving catering and retail sector, with a number of local and national manufacturers also based in the area. The size and topography of the area means that farming has a lower profile, with no high risk feed premises.

2.2 Organisational Structure The Council has adopted a Cabinet style structure under the modernisation agenda. The Food Hygiene and Standards Services sit under the Executive Member for Housing, Planning and Public Protection, who sits on the Cabinet and reports to the Safer Communities Scrutiny and Overview Committee. Reports of the Cabinet and Scrutiny Committee can be found on the Torfaen web-site at www.torfaen.gov.uk. The Corporate Plan is at the heart of the work carried out by the Council, with an emphasis on improvement outcomes of service delivery linked to the corporate aims. Elected Members are actively involved in development of the Corporate Plan, and in the Council’s other decision making processes to ensure that service delivery is focused on the corporate objectives. The Corporate Plan can be found on the Torfaen web-site. Responsibility for the delivery of the Food Service Plan rests in the Planning and Public Protection Service. Details of the teams involved in the delivery of the food enforcement role can be found on the Torfaen web-site, along with details of the range of other work also carried out by these teams.

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Chief Officer Planning & Public

Protection

Head of Development

Control

Head of Public

Protection

Head of Forward Planning

(shared post)

Head of Trading

Standards

Head of Food, Health & Safety

Enforcement

Public Health

Team Food, Health and Safety

Enforcement

Team

Trading Standards

Team

Structure of the Planning and Public Protection Service

Denotes responsibility for food / feeding stuffs enforcement

Commercial Standards division inc

food standards

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2.3 Scope of the Food Service Responsibilities for food enforcement are broken down as follows.

Responsibility

Team

Associated tasks carried out by the team

Food Hygiene Inspections, complaints, licensing, requests for service, education and sampling

Food, Health and Safety Team

Health & Safety Infectious Disease Control Pest Control./Animal Warden service Licensing – Food / H&S Animal Welfare Smoking enforcement Private Water supplies

Food Standards Inspections, complaints, requests for service, education, sampling and originating authority responsibilities

Trading Standards Team

Weights & Measures Fair Trading Consumer Protection Licensing

Feeding-stuffs Inspections, complaints, requests for service, education, sampling

Food, Health & Safety team, and Monmouthshire County Council (see MCC Food Service Plan for details)

FHS team – as above Animal Health & Welfare Other trading standards functions

The competencies of officers carrying out enforcement activities are based on qualifications, training and experience. These are reviewed as part of the annual WorkSmart interview process, and whenever new legislation is introduced. Authorisations of officers follow the Corporate Authorisation and delegation Scheme and the Divisional documented procedure as appropriate. The officers taking the lead in the enforcement of this legislation are as follows Food Hygiene Senior Environmental Health Officer / Lead officer for food

enforcement, answering to the Head of Food, Health and Safety Enforcement

Food Standards Senior Fair Trading Officer reporting to the Head of Trading Standards

Feeding-stuffs As for Food Hygiene, and Monmouthshire County Council Trading Standards, reporting to the Head of Public Protection

These officers are appointed on the basis of their qualifications, training and experience, and are expected to maintain an expertise in these areas. Other officers also have training and expertise in these areas, to allow cover to be maintained in respect of these services.

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The following analysts and examiners have been appointed, and have been authorised in accordance with the Authority’s procedures. Public Food Analyst Cardiff Scientific Services Ltd Croft Street Cardiff Food Examiner Public Health Wales (formerly NPHS Wales)

Llandough Hospital Penarth

2.4 Demands on the Food Service

2.4.1 Food Hygiene Premises Data The profile of food hygiene businesses in Torfaen is as follows: -

Risk band Premises type

A B C D E Un-rated

No Inspection risk

Total Number of inspections due in 2012 / 13

Primary Producer 1 1 2 1

Manufacturers / Packers

2 1 2 2 5 12 5

Importers / Exporters

Distributors / Transporters

1 2 7 1 2 13 5

Supermarket / Hypermarket

1 3 3 4 11 3

Small Retailer 1 6 30 20 53 1 1 112 51

Retailer other 4 2 50 2 2 60 24

Restaurant / Café / Canteen

1 14 68 7 14 104 45

Hotel / Guest House 3 1 4 8 2

Pub / Club 10 33 18 42 1 104 46

Takeaway 2 13 65 3 83 47

Caring Premises 1 24 11 1 77 1 115 58

School / College 11 24 3 4 42 28

Mobile food unit 4 25 4 8 7 48 20

Restaurant / Caterer other

3 13 8 58 3 85 26

Total 7 87 282 75 327 16 5 799 361

The following specialist premises are located in Torfaen: Approved Premises 7 premises are approved under the provisions of

Regulation (EC) No 853/2004. These are included in the above table.

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2.4.2 Food Standards Premises Data The profile of food standards businesses in the Torfaen area is as follows: -

Risk band Premises type

A B C Unrated Total premises

Primary Producer 1 1

Manufacturers / Packers

1 10 1 12

Importers / Exporters 0

Distributors / Transporters

1 2 8 11

Supermarket / Hypermarket

6 5 11

Small Retailer 1 17 93 111

Retailer other 41 41

Restaurant / Café / Canteen

7 91 98

Hotel / Guest House 1 4 5

Pub / Club 2 101 103

Takeaway 9 74 83

Caring Premises 1 59 60

School / College 1 36 37

Mobile food unit 6 34 40

Restaurant / Caterer other

1 45 46

Total 3 63 593 0 659

2.4.3 Feeding stuffs Premises Data

Torfaen has just 4 premises listed on the Register of premises registered / approved under Regulation (EC) No 183/2005 (Feed Hygiene Regulations), all of which are retail premises selling pet food.

This data is based on information available to the authority through farm based inspections and other work.

2.4.4 The Food Hygiene and Standards premises data There are some differences in the number of premises falling under the food hygiene and food standards inspection regimes, due to differences in the way that these premises are defined, placed on the database and inspected under the different legislative regimes. The area does not undergo significant seasonal change, but high levels of deprivation in some areas mean that businesses open and close on a regular basis, placing an additional burden on the service in respect of advice to businesses and the inspection programme, and also affecting the accuracy of the database at any given time.

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2.5 Delivering the Service The service has relocated recently and is currently delivered from Ty Blaen Torfaen, New Inn. These offices are open from 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday, with public access available between 8.30 - 5.00 Monday to Thursday and 8.30 – 4.30 on Friday. Access is available either by person or telephone (including Mini-com), and by e-mail to each team and to individual officers. Officers may now be “agile working” from a range of local authority premises or from home. However, there will always be officers who can be contacted immediately to deal with emergencies, and specialist administrative support are available between 8.30a.m. and 5.00p.m. (4.30p.m on Friday) to take and pass on messages and requests for service and to contact officers where needed. A range of information concerning the food enforcement service is available via the Torfaen web-site, which also allows queries and complaints to be submitted via e-mail. Application forms and other documents will continue to be added through the year to provide a comprehensive on-line service. Much of the service is delivered at business premises, and officers also visit residents to collect food complaints etc. Most work is carried out between 8.30am and 5.00pm, but inspections and calls are routinely made between 7am and 7pm, and inspections and other work are also carried out at other times as appropriate. An emergency call out system operates outside these hours accessed via the Council’s Central Control Room, and Environmental Health Managers are available to deal with Food Alerts, food poisoning outbreaks and other urgent issues at all times.

2.6 Enforcement Policies Food Hygiene enforcement is covered by the Enforcement Policy for the Food, Health and Safety Team, which sets out to ensure food hygiene enforcement

Is fair, accountable, consistent, proportionate and transparent

Is an effective use of resources through a risk-based methodology

improves protection for the community and businesses

reduces the regulatory burden on businesses where appropriate Food Standards enforcement is covered by the Planning and Public Protection General Enforcement Policy . Feeding Stuff enforcement is covered by Monmouthshire’s food service plan, which will outline their enforcement policy. The purpose of the Enforcement Policies are to: -

Give information on the types of enforcement carried out and the circumstances under which each type of enforcement may be considered

Ensure that enforcement carried out by the authority is appropriate, by considering the risks presented to health, previous history of the business and a range of other factors.

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Ensure that a full range of enforcement options are considered, starting with help and advice for businesses and only considering more formal action in the most serious cases.

The authority takes a graduated approach to enforcement, and seeks to ensure that information and advice is provided to businesses wherever possible. Enforcement action is taken in accordance with the appropriate Codes of Practice and other guidance such as that from the Better Regulation Delivery Office, and takes into account issues such as the seriousness of any offence, the history of the premises and the willingness of the proprietor to put things right. This means that enforcement action is effectively targeted at those premises that seriously contravene the law and/or are unwilling to put things right. Information and guidance on how Torfaen carries out food enforcement is given on it’s website.

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Service Delivery

3.1 Food and feed-stuffs Premises Inspections

3.1.1 Food Inspections It is anticipated that approximately 415 food hygiene inspections / interventions will be undertaken during 2013/14 on a risk based programme, with around 111 premises inspections/interventions in respect of food standards enforcement. There are no feed stuff premises on the proactive inspection plan Experience suggests that approximately 50 new food businesses will set up within the year, all requiring an inspection or alternative action for food hygiene and food standards. Food inspections are carried out on a risk based programmed basis, based on

Legislation under which the inspection is being carried out

Any guidance issued in respect of that legislation

Codes of Practice and any guidance issued by the Food Standards Agency under the Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations 2006.

Any guidance issued by the Better Regulation Delivery Office, Local Government Regulation (formally LACORS) etc.

All premises subject to inspection are risk rated in accordance with these Codes of Practice, and the details entered on the database so that future inspections can be programmed. Each year, the number of inspections to be carried out in the following year are calculated, based on their risk, the date of the last inspection and other factors as appropriate, and these are then included in the Service Improvement Plan. In addition to programmed risk based inspections, other inspections will be carried out as appropriate where

Intelligence is received as a result of complaints or other information.

Topic based or special project inspections and other actions are being carried out

The premises have been identified as requiring further action as part of the focus on improving premises with a low confidence in management score

An intervention action such as a questionnaire is considered inappropriate, for example where the risk rating may no longer be accurate.

Where no response has been received to an intervention action such as a questionnaire, the appropriateness of such an intervention is queried, or a validation visit is required.

New premises are inspected as soon as is practicable and where appropriate, having regard to the likely risk the premises present in terms of their size and the types of operation carried out there. However, premises registering with the authority may not always be subject to immediate inspection where they are not yet ready to open for business and/or where they are low risk.

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Premises requiring approval under EC Directives are generally inspected prior to opening for business, by senior officers with specialist knowledge of the appropriate legislation, and by suitably qualified staff thereafter. Feeding-stuff premises requiring approval are dealt with by the Food, Health and Safety team, supported by expertise from other authorities as necessary. On farm feeding-stuff enforcement is carried out by Monmouthshire County Council as part of their Animal Health function.

3.1.1a Other Food Enforcement Interventions The changes introduced by the Food Law Code of Practice (Wales) issued in September 2008 introduced a suite of interventions when carrying out ‘official controls’ within food business. The changes were intended to give a greater focus on the outcomes of visits to food businesses, concentrating the Council’s resources in those higher risk premises. In accordance with the Food Law Code of Practice (Wales), premises rated A and B for food hygiene will continue to receive a full inspection, partial inspection or audit at each risk calculated visit. Those premises rated as band C for hygiene and which fulfil the ‘broadly compliant’

requirement for Hygiene Structure, Hygiene Practices and Confidence in Management (i.e. a score of no more than 10 within the risk rating scheme outlined in Annex 5 of the Food Law Code of Practice (Wales)) may, on an every other visit basis, be assessed using another intervention (being sampling, survey, monitoring, verification or validation). The next scheduled official control (visit) will then be a full inspection, partial inspection or audit. At all times, band D and E premises can be subject to any of the interventions outlined above. Band E premises can also be assessed using ‘alternative enforcement’ tools which, in Torfaen, will generally mean the use of questionnaires. In accordance with the Food Law Code of Practice (Wales), premises rated A and B for food standards will continue to receive a full inspection or audit at each calculated visit. Those premises rated as band C for standards may be assessed using alternative enforcement actions. In addition to these inspections, a number of premises may be targeted for additional visits, with education and enforcement action taken as appropriate to bring about improvements in low confidence in management scores. This builds on the programme of advice and training for businesses in “Safer Food Better Business” and other safety management techniques, which will continue through the year. New legislation is responded to as necessary, through additional inspections and/or information for affected businesses. Where the impact of new legislation is known in advance, it will be included in the Service Improvement Plan and in the resource planning process as appropriate. Work on the implementation of the Food Standards Agency E.Coli Guidance is now underway, and this could have a significant impact on some local businesses. It is also expected to have an impact on inspection times and levels of enforcement work for the authority.

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Where specialist knowledge is required but is not available “in house”, this will be sought from the food examiner or analyst, from the Food Standards Agency, or from other authorities as appropriate. The Authority will respond as appropriate to any additional inspections or other work required by the Food Standards Agency.

3.1.1b The National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme On the 1st October 2010, the Food Standards Agency launched its ‘National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme’ (NFHRS). The NFHRS has been designed to provide consumers with an indication of the food hygiene standards within premises included in the scheme. The aim of the scheme is to give consumers an informed choice about hygiene standards when choosing where to eat or buy food. Torfaen Council was the first Authority in Wales to launch the scheme, with around 180 premises hygiene scores displayed from 1 of October 2010, and most of the Torfaen catering and retail premises now on that database for public viewing. The scores for businesses included in the scheme and inspected since the 1 of April 2010 can be found on the Food Standards Agency website at http://ratings.food.gov.uk/Welcome.aspx

It is clear from anecdotal and other evidence that many premises have sought to improve their score by improving their food hygiene standards, and this has been supported by Torfaen through a range of advice and training opportunities for businesses. Over 85% of Torfaen’s food businesses are now broadly complaint with food hygiene law or better.

3.1.2 Actions following inspections Each premises inspected will receive a written report of that inspection giving, where appropriate, information on the contraventions found, if any, the action needed to remedy these contraventions and an appropriate timescale for any work, and any recommendations being made by the inspecting officer. Information and advice will also be given as appropriate, including a range of leaflets, face to face advice and information on-line via our web-site. The actions that can be taken by the officer following an inspection are outlined in the appropriate Enforcement Policy, and these will include the full range of enforcement action available including informal letters and advice, statutory notices, voluntary and emergency closure procedures through to prosecution where appropriate. In most instances, statutory and formal actions are only considered in the most serious cases, where informal action is unlikely to succeed or has previously failed to bring about improvements, or where there is a clear need to take such action to protect the public interest. Around half of premises food hygiene inspections result in at least one re-visit to provide further training or ensure compliance. The decision to make a revisit is based on;

The seriousness of the risk to health presented by the work required or the nature of non-compliance with appropriate legislation.

The likelihood that the business will carry out the work

The period of time allowed for the work compared to the date of the next inspection.

http://ratings.food.gov.uk/Welcome.aspx

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Where food standards inspections identify significant breaches of the law, the premises concerned will be re-visited or subject to an alternative enforcement action in order to ensure / confirm compliance. Around half of premises food standards inspections result in at least one re-visit to provide further training or ensure compliance.

3.1.3 Recording Inspections Premises inspections are recorded on a specialist database for food premises, which generates re-inspection dates and statistical reports as required by the Food Standards Agency, and this information is backed up and saved as appropriate to minimise the risk of corruption or the loss of data. For Food Hygiene and feeding-stuffs (approvals), records of premises, premises inspections and any contraventions found are kept on file, along with details of any food complaints and other correspondence relating to that premises. In respect of Food Standards, all inspections and alterative enforcement actions are recorded on the authority’s specialist database, along with details of any food complaints, service requests and other correspondence relating to that business. Premises records are maintained for a minimum of 7 years.

3.1.4 Reducing the impact of enforcement on businesses The information relating to premises that is required for enforcement purposes will generally only be sought from businesses as required by law, with other information being collected by officers as part of our enforcement role. Information will be shared with other enforcement bodies as appropriate and in line with corporate Data Protection and Freedom of information policies to ensure that effective enforcement can be carried out, and to prevent the need for businesses to provide duplicate information wherever possible.

3.2 Food and feeding stuffs complaints A range of food and food premises complaints are received each year (details of the expected numbers of complaints are contained in Appendix 1), requiring differing levels of investigation based on: -

Public safety implications

Whether an infringement of food law is likely to have occurred.

The level and standard of evidence available As a general principal,

All complaints relating to statutory issues are considered and investigated as appropriate, and complainants informed of the outcome of any investigation. These include food complaints and complaints about premises where it is alleged that a statutory breach has occurred or may occur and/or there is a potential risk to public health.

Any complaints regarding non-statutory issues are responded to, although a full investigation may not be possible. These may include complaints where the issue concerning the complainant does not relate to a legal requirement in respect of those premises or assistance or advice is being sought.

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In respect of hygiene matters, arrangements are in place for the transference of complaint samples to and from other authorities where appropriate. Information and advice may be sought from any authority or other organisation responsible for enforcement throughout the production, manufacturing, storage, transport, and retail chain to ensure that full information regarding a food complaint can be obtained. Where appropriate, we will work in partnership with other authorities to ensure public safety, to ensure that food is maintained in a way that complies with the law throughout the food chain, and to ensure the consistency of any enforcement or advice that is given to businesses. Procedures are in place in respect of the investigation of food complaints relating to hygiene/safety issues. These procedures cover food produced in the United Kingdom, and advice given by the Food Standards Agency and by LG Regulation will be followed in respect of complaints originating abroad. Food complaints and other requests for service are recorded on our database, so that activity reports can be obtained, individual service requests checked, achievements against Performance Indicators reported and workload trends calculated.

3.3 Home Authorities and Primary Authorities Where enforcement action is being considered, Torfaen County Borough Council will, where necessary, have regard to the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) Primary Authority partnership scheme and the Home Authority Principle.

3.3.1 The Primary Authority Scheme

Under this scheme, Local Authorities are required to have regard to any inspection programme established by the Primary Authority for those premises, and to make contact with the ‘Primary Authority’ that the company has partnered with when considering enforcement action. This is to ensure the proposed actions are not contrary to the advice the company has received by its primary partner, although this requirement to consult is waived if consumers or workers are at immediate risk.

Torfaen takes steps to identify those businesses that have entered into a Primary Authority relationship, and this information is highlighted on our database so that inspecting officers are aware of the need to look at Primary Authority Inspection plans and to take these into account when carrying out our enforcement role.

3.4 Advice to Businesses This authority will seek to assist businesses wherever possible through: -

Help and advice as part of the inspection process.

Responding to Service Requests from businesses.

A range of leaflets in various languages for businesses wishing to set up or extend their premises or product range, including the development of leaflets etc. where needed and not available elsewhere.

Examination of plans etc. on request or as part of a planning application.

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Training courses and seminars

Extensive Information and advice on our web-site, including forms and leaflets where appropriate.

Updates on changes to the law and other issues that could affect businesses and local residents, via mail-shot letters, the Torfaen web-site and/or when an inspection or visit is being carried out.

Whilst the provision of advice, particularly to small and medium sized businesses, is important, the authority also recognises that this should not conflict with the enforcement role. The issue of advice to businesses is addressed within the appropriate Enforcement Policies. Stakeholder involvement in the delivery of services is currently being addressed on a corporate basis, and our web-site presence is kept under review to allow stakeholders to proactively comment on our services.

3.5 Food and feeding stuffs sampling Food sampling is carried out by both Trading Standards and the Food Health and Safety teams. Sampling is important to help protect public health and safety by testing foods to ensure they meet composition, labelling, chemical and micro-biological safety standards. Where food is found not to meet those standards, appropriate interventions will be taken to correct any shortfalls or in instances where a significant public health issue is identified to ensure the food is removed from the food chain. Trading Standards food samples are sent to the Council’s appointed Public Analyst. The food sampling budget for 2013/14 is estimated to be around £7500, which is funded from within the teams budget and is recognised to be under budgetary pressure. Food samples obtained by the Food, Health and Safety team are sent to one of the Public Health Wales laboratories for examination. The cost of sampling is met by Public Health Wales and the estimated budget for 2013/14 is around £6000. Feeding-stuff samples will be taken by Monmouthshire CC where appropriate, or by another authority acting on behalf of Torfaen, and submitted to an appropriate specialist and accredited laboratory. However, there are no feeding-stuff manufacturers or major distributors in the Torfaen area, and a sampling programme is not therefore seen as a priority to protect public health. The food hygiene sampling policy and programme is reviewed annually. However, the direction of sampling work can change through the year based upon a number of factors, including the launch of new and targeted national or regional sampling projects as well as information/intelligence obtained locally. As a result, the sampling programme is not set in stone and is subject to change during the year. The overall anticipated sampling workloads are contained within the Service Improvement Plan for each team. All formal sample results are notified to the food business operator as appropriate, and unsatisfactory results will be the subject of further action by this authority. Samples are recorded on the database so that reports can be produced in a format required by the Food Standards Agency, and results are also reported to the FSA via the FSA UKFSS system. This means that the FSA will receive “live” data regarding our

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sampling, rather than the annual results submitted as part of the overall statistical returns at the end of each year.

3.6 Control and investigation of food related infectious disease The authority receives around 200 food poisoning notifications per year, including potential outbreaks and sporadic cases, which are investigated in line with the procedures agreed with other authorities, laboratories etc. within the South East Wales Liaison Group Outbreaks are investigated in line with the Authority’s Outbreak Control Plan.

3.7 Food Safety Alerts The Authority investigates all Food Alerts in accordance with the Codes of Practice and any guidance issued under the Food Safety Act 1990 etc. All food alerts are available to food enforcement officers, and are circulated where action may be required. The action taken in respect of any Alert will depend on the nature of that Alert, and on any action requested/required by the Food Standards Agency. The decision process in respect of Food Alerts for action are recorded on the database, and these decisions are made by suitable qualified and authorised officers. Measures are in place to ensure that Food Alerts are received and considered outside normal working hours, and that they are responded to as appropriate.

3.8 Liaison with other organisations The Authority is committed to ensuring uniformity of enforcement by: -

Complying with the advice of the Food Standards Agency

Complying with the Codes of Practice and other guidance issued under the Food Safety Act 1990 etc.

Complying with Local Government Regulation guidance wherever possible and appropriate

Undergoing inter-authority auditing and other auditing processes as appropriate

Liaising with other Authorities through attendance of the South East Wales Food Safety Task Group, the Greater Gwent Food Standards Group and other “Task and Finish” Groups as appropriate to discuss enforcement issues and more local topics

Representation on the WHOTS Food and Agriculture Group.

Working with Primary Authorities and BRDO as appropriate.

3.9 Food safety and standards promotion The authority is committed to promoting food safety and standards wherever possible. The advisory role of the authority will generally involve: -

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Information and advice for businesses and members of the public on request.

Availability of a range of leaflets covering health, safety, hygiene and labelling issues

Active participation in the Food Standards Agency ‘National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme’ which seeks to provide consumers with an indication of the hygiene standards found on inspection to help them make an informed choice of where to eat.

Participation in national events such as Food Safety Week where appropriate and where resources allow

Promotion of food standards and safety, healthy options and nutrition through Torfaen Talks and the Torfaen web-site where appropriate, with information and links to allow residents and businesses to obtain further information if they wish.

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Resources

4.1 Financial Allocation The budget for the Food, Health and Safety Enforcement Team is expected to be around £330,000 for the financial year 2013/14, of which around 50% (£165,000) will be allocated to Food Hygiene Enforcement activities. The budget for the Trading Standards team is £360,000, a minimum of 15% (£54,000) of which will be allocated to Food Standards enforcement. There is currently no financial allocation in respect of agricultural/feeding stuffs enforcement. This work is carried out by the Food, Health and Safety team, and by Monmouthshire CC in conjunction with the Animal Health function, although the impact of this work in Torfaen is low. The Supplies and Services budgets represent the main discretionary spending for each team, and is spent on

The purchase and maintenance of information systems, books etc.

The purchase of IT equipment where not dealt with elsewhere.

The purchase and maintenance of equipment, including calibration etc

The purchase of protective clothing for hygiene and safety purposes

Office equipment, furniture, stationery etc Some costs, such as the purchase and maintenance of computers and software and some training, are shared across the Service, with spending decisions being made outside the teams. Most purchasing decisions, however, rest within the teams. New laptops have been provided across all services, as appropriate, to allow officers to work from a range of local authority premises or from home where needed, although these will need to be replaced within team service and supply budgets in future years. Corporate IT hardware and software are generally well resourced with a specialist IT department, and there are also departmental IT specialists to support local software such as the food premises database. No separate provision has been made for legal action, although an emergency fund exists for major cases and further funding measures are currently under consideration. For major cases with a regional/national significance, funding and support from other local authorities and from the Food Standards Agency is sought to ensure that all businesses can be held accountable in law, regardless of their size. Equipment is maintained by staff as appropriate, and any problems are reported so that repairs or replacements can be arranged. Where equipment may be used in the taking of formal procedures or for issues which have a bearing on health and safety, it is submitted for servicing and calibration as appropriate, and the records of this are kept on file.

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Torfaen CBC, like every other Local Authority, is seeing ever increasing financial restraints which are likely to result in cuts in discretionary spending and on the training budget. Any inflationary or service increases in budget, other than salary increases, will have to be funded by savings elsewhere. In particular, the sampling budget is not currently adequate for all of the food standards sampling programme.

4.2 Staffing Allocation The Food, Health and Safety Team consists of 6 officers and 1 manager, 5 of whom are qualified to carry out food hygiene enforcement. Specialist administrative support is available to support the work of the team. The 5 officers carrying out food hygiene enforcement are as follows: - 3 Senior EHO’s EHO (EHORB registered) 8, 14 & 22 years experience 1 Senior Food Enforcement Higher certificate Officer 16 years experience (plus additional experience and qualifications in pest control) 1 Technical Officer Higher Certificate 4 years experience, plus specialist admin experience. It is anticipated that around 3 FTE officers will be allocated to the food hygiene function, carrying out the full range of food enforcement and advisory work. This work is carried out in a largely integrated way, and it is not therefore possible to determine how much time is specifically allocated to each of the various food hygiene activities. The Commercial Standards team within the Trading Standards section is responsible for food standards enforcement. The two officers carrying out food standards enforcement are as follows - 1 Senior Trading Standards Officer DTS Qualified

13 years experience 1 Senior Fair Trading Officer DCA Qualified

7 years experience It is anticipated that around 1.5 FTE officers will be allocated to the food standards function, carrying out the full range of food standards and advisory work. Again, it is not possible to determine how much time is specifically allocated to each of the various food standards activities. The Head of Public Protection is a qualified EHO with 17 years experience, mainly in food/health and safety enforcement, plus additional environmental health experience. The Head of Trading Standards is qualified to DTS or equivalent with 42 years experience within the service, and the Head of Food, Health and Safety Enforcement is an EHO with 28 years food/health and safety enforcement experience The staffing levels of the Teams are kept under review, and any shortfalls in staffing levels will be identified as part of the Service Improvement Plan process. Whilst the authority is

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committed to providing services in-house, contractors may be used to cover short term shortfalls. No redundancies are expected within Torfaen’s food enforcement service in 2013/14, although voluntary redundancies and retirements are available. Staff taking these options will not then be replaced or could be replaced by less well qualified/experienced staff. Staffing within Monmouthshire CC Animal Health function and their partnership with Torfaen remains under review, particularly given the significant cuts in Defra funding that currently supports this service, and the move towards a regional or national Trading Standards delivery model.

4.3 Staffing Development Plan Work Smart interviews are carried out annually for each member of staff, and, as part of this process; training needs are identified and programmed. Staff training and development will include: -

Information on any Enforcement Policies, including copies of any documentation needed on a day to day basis

Circulation of any new information from FSA, Local Government Regulation etc

In house or external training on any new legislation

At least 10 hours core CPD training on a range of food enforcement issues as appropriate.

Where formal training is carried out in-house, this is recorded and certificated. On the job training is recorded during the first six months for new staff or those rejoining the Food, Health and Safety Team, as part of the competency procedures for that team. Records of all staff qualifications and training are kept by staff as well as evidence of on-going continual professional development. Training needs are included in the Departmental Training Plan for funding allocation. Whilst under considerable threat due to the current economic climate, this training budget remains higher than for many other authorities and should be sufficient to meet statutory needs. The use of Food Standards Agency and Chartered Institute of Environmental Health free or low cost training also greatly assists in ensuring that the necessary levels of training are maintained.

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Quality Assessment

5.1 Quality Assessment The authority is committed to ensuring quality, and to ensuring that it complies with the Food Standard Agency Code of Practice and Guidance. For Food Hygiene, this is achieved through the Authorisation, Competency and Quality Monitoring procedure for the Food, Health and Safety Team. This sets out the processes by which we ensure:- 1. Our adherence to our agreed planned intervention programmes; 2. The consistent assessment of intervention ratings for inspections etc. 3. Compliance with Section 18 guidance, FSA Codes of Practice and other guidance

issued by the FSA, HSE and other appropriate government departments and agencies as appropriate

4. Compliance with internal procedures, and the appropriate use of relevant inspection forms as laid down in our procedures etc.

5. The interpretation and action taken by officers following an intervention, to ensure it is consistent with our Enforcement Policy, and with other authorities, appropriate Codes of Practice and guidance etc.

6. That officers are aware of and have access to up-to-date legislation, guidance, published industry codes of practice etc. relevant to the businesses being inspected

Quality in respect of food hygiene enforcement is reviewed in a number of ways, including

Monitoring procedures allow an accurate assessment of the work being carried out against targeted work, with at least 2 hygiene inspections by each officer checked annually for accuracy and completeness.

Reviewing any policies and procedures annually or whenever new legislation is introduced to ensure compliance with that legislation

Internal and external / third party audits

Internal Audits via the Internal Audit programme

Peer review audits by other local authorities

Food Standards Agency auditing and other auditing processes as appropriate.

Participation in the Wales Programme for Improvement review process as appropriate.

Making amendments to the procedures as indicated by any auditing or review procedures.

New monitoring recording procedures for food hygiene, carried out as part of the Action Plan following the Food Standards Agency audit in November 2010, mean that the level of monitoring work carried out can be more clearly seen by stakeholders and auditors.

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5.2 Customer Consultation and Feedback The authority has a number of mechanisms in place in respect of customer consultation and feedback, and these include

Consultation via the web-site (which is available via libraries and other outlets across the authority free of charge) in respect of the Service Plans and other documents as appropriate.

Questionnaires to a sample of businesses subject to food hygiene inspections.

Feedback facilities via the web-site Consultation and feedback mechanisms will therefore continue to be reviewed and improved as appropriate.

5.3 Formal Complaints Informal complaints and concerns are considered by line managers in the first instance, and these are recorded along with any action taken. The Authority operates a formal complaints procedure and makes information on this available to the public. All complaints follow an investigation process, and records are kept of the complaints and any outcomes. The final stage of the complaints process allows referral of the complaint to a Local Government Ombudsman, in order that independent adjudication can be carried out. Facilities are currently being developed to allow formal complaints about our service to be reported via the web-site, along with our response showing what action has been taken.

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Reviews

6.1 Reviews against the Service Plan The performance of the authority against the Service Improvement Plan is monitored at least twice a year, and reported to the appropriate Executive Member as part of the corporate Performance Indicator monitoring process. Key Performance Indicators are reported and monitored via the Ffynnon system, which are reviewed by the Chief Officer reporting twice yearly to the Executive Member for Corporate Governance and Community Safety. Each year Torfaen Council is subject to a number of performance reviews by the Wales Audit Office (WAO) in accordance with their Regulatory Plan. Achievement of the inspection programme is monitored as part of this performance review process. The Food Service Plan and any Policies and Procedures are reviewed annually, as part of the Document Control Procedures contained within the General Enforcement Policy, the Food, Health and Safety Enforcement Policy and other operating policies as appropriate.

6.2 Identification of any Variation from the Service Plan Workload targets are reviewed regularly to see;

What shortfalls, if any, have taken place and whether these are significant

What factors have caused the variation to take place and

Whether additional resources are needed to rectify the variation and achieve the annual targets

Some shortfalls may occur because access to premises could not be obtained or because inspections have been delayed to allow coaching visits, for example. For Food Hygiene inspections, outstanding inspections are reviewed monthly by the Lead Officer and/or Team manager, and lower priority work rescheduled where necessary to ensure that high risk inspections are completed. Significant shortfalls that cannot be resolved within the team are reported to the Senior Management team, and actions needed to resolve the problem are then agreed. This action can include

Prioritisation of work, with lower risk inspections and other low priority work delayed, carried out in some other way or dropped from the work plan for the year as appropriate

Staff reallocated from other duties in the short term to resolve any shortfalls that are regarded as a priority.

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Any shortfalls in inspections that have not been resolved by the end of each year are carried forward and included in the Service Improvement Plan for the following year. However, Torfaen’s inspection levels are generally very good, and there have been few or no inspections that need to be carried forward.

6.3 Areas for Improvement As part of the review process, areas for improvement are examined and possible improvements identified covering: -

Improvements to response times as part of the Performance indicator reporting

Improvements to the Database accuracy and validity.

Improvements in efficiency, effectiveness and economy.

Improvements in working practices, to improve efficiency and the quality of service, as a result of the Wales Programme for Improvement Review.

New projects or initiatives to improve the overall quality of food and drink produced in the area or to raise the awareness of the general public.

Ways in which the food enforcement service can better support and integrate with corporate initiatives such as the Health, Social care and Well-being strategy

Ways in which the service can better support local businesses through the provision of advice and training as appropriate, and in particular ways in which Food Standards Agency funding can be utilised to assist local businesses.

Ways in which the service can support Food Standards Agency and other external initiatives.

These will be included in the Service Improvement Plan, either as one of the targets for the forthcoming year or as a special project, where the improvements have been identified during the Improvement Plan development process. However, service improvement is seen as an on-going process and may therefore be delivered outside of the service plan process. Where significant opportunities for service improvement occur after the adoption of the Service Improvement Plan, a process exists whereby the Improvement Plan can be changed to take account of new work as appropriate.

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Food Hygiene and feeding-stuff SIP - attached Food Standards SIP – attached

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food service plan

Documents