Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Councillor Dafydd Meurig

To consider the report of the Head of Environment Department

Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member on the progress made to address 34 recommendations published by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) following an audit of the Council's food law enforcement provision. A report was provided on the progress made to meet the recommendations in accordance with the plan at the Communities Scrutiny Committee, 10.10.17. In February 2018, FSA officers revisited the Service to assess further progress on the improvement plan. It was reported that 20 of the recommendations still required further action.

            It was reported that the Service had taken major steps toward meeting the 34 recommendations made in the FSA's full audit of the Council's food law enforcement provision in February 2016. After revisiting in February 2018, confirmation was given that the Service had met a proportion of the recommendations, that it had made good progress on some recommendations, but that limited progress or no progress had been made to meet four of the recommendations.

            It was acknowledged, in accordance with some of the recommendations, that there were insufficient resources to meet the requirements of food law enforcement as demanded by Welsh Government. In a report to the Cabinet (July 2018) the importance of the service with respect to statutory requirements, the nature of the work, and the possible risks for the residents of Gwynedd and the Council from non-compliance with the requirements, were outlined. The Cabinet, consequently, agreed that the Environment Department could use an (annual) income of £70,000 from the Transportation and Countryside Service, which had previously been identified as a contribution toward the Council's savings plan, to employ new officer(s) to the Public Protection Service on a permanent basis. Having made appointments and after a period of settling down/training it was expected that this would allow the Service, in time, to meet its food law enforcement commitments in accordance with the National Food Safety Framework Agreement.

            Meanwhile, it was noted that the Service would continue to implement the improvements noted in the improvement plan to fully meet the 34 original recommendations. It was reiterated, because of the historical backlog of food safety inspections, time would be needed to complete them. It showed that 290 inspections, that should have been completed by the end of March this year, were still pending. If the appointments procedure was successful, it was expected that the work would be completed by 2021 at the latest.

During the ensuing discussion, Members highlighted the following points:

·         It was reassuring to see progress, but there was concern that two and a half years had elapsed and 20 recommendations still needed further action. Further progress was needed

·         The Council's failure to meet statutory requirements posed a significant risk

·         Lack of resources was not a good enough excuse

·         Targets still needed to be met

·         The effect of the cuts was now visible - this was evidence that excessive cuts had been a mistake

·         Why had a request for financial support not been made to the FSA within the two and a half years in order to address the lack of resources?

·         It was accepted that there had been an increase in the workload and that officers had to put in more effort

·         Statutory requirements had to be prioritised

In response to a question about the ability to charge a fee for visits, the Public Protection Manager (Welfare) stated that charging fees had recently attracted national attention; but, to date the 'political' will to charge fees was lacking. It was reiterated that a fee of £150 was charged for a revisit.

The Cabinet Member reiterated that the paperwork for the visits were being enforced by the FSA and that it was laborious. The intention to look into information technology systems was noted, but that it was difficult to establish less bureaucratic arrangements - this was frustrating. It was argued that some of the recommendations were valid but that some formed part of unnecessary procedures.

It was proposed and seconded that the Committee request that the Cabinet refer the matter to Welsh Government since the Service was unable to meet the statutory recommendations in this field, and to request more funding.  

            RESOLVED:

Accept the content of the report of the Cabinet Member for the Environment, and recognise that the Council is unable to meet its statutory responsibilities in the field of Food Standards.

Members of the Scrutiny Committee wished to draw the Cabinet Members' attention to their responsibility in this field, and recommended that the contact Welsh Government immediately to request further resources to meet the statutory requirement.