Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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FSA Regulating our Future Newsletter, 25 June 2018
The following has been published on the FSA website. Use the links to see additional details.
The Board discussed our plans last week and endorsed both what we are planning to do before the UK exits the EU in March next year and the implementation of the remaining elements of the regulatory reform programme after that.
In this issue Beverley Kuster, Enhanced Registration lead, expands on our digitally-enabled approach to registration and you can watch Michael Jackson, Head of Regulatory Standards and Assurance, give an update on our developing thoughts around Regulated Private Assurance. Also below is an infographic showing what we’ll be delivering over the months ahead and we’ll update this document as the work progresses.
Heather Hancock
FSA Chairman Regulating Our Future progress timeline
Our priority has been to ensure that the elements of the new system that are key to continued protection of public health and maintenance of consumer and business trust and confidence in the system are in place in advance of EU exit. Progress on delivery of these elements of the programme are summarised in this timeline.
For pdf, see: Regulating Our Future progress timeline
Business start-up and enhanced registration
In the plans we published last year, we said that we would introduce a new digitally-enabled approach to make it easier for businesses to register and easier for them to access information and guidance that will enable them to get things right from the start.
To do this we are building an online service which will give us more information on food business at the time they register and will provide real-time access to registration details of all businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The development phases of the online service were completed in April and we have now started to build a working version for testing. 18 Local Authorities from across England, Wales and Northern Ireland have volunteered to work with us on the first version to help us refine and improve it. Further testing, research and assessment will continue throughout this phase with a widening group ahead of the system going live in early 2019.
Alongside development of the online registration service we have undertaken research to gain a better understanding of how new businesses currently enter the regulatory system and what type of support they receive and find useful. This has helped to identify when and how its most helpful to provide the advice and support. This work and our engagement with other government departments, will help us to determine what information to include on our webpages for starting a food business. The new content will be tested through workshops in the autumn and finalised by December.
In addition, 17 Local Authorities are assisting us with a quantitative piece of research by collecting data that will help inform robust evidence to indicate that support at the point of start-up helps business to comply with necessary requirements.
A consultation with impact assessment will be issued next month that sets out the rationale behind the changes and our overall objectives.
Regulated Private Assurance
Michael Jackson, Head of Regulatory Standards and Assurance, gives an update on our developing thoughts around Regulated Private Assurance.
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Video - click on image to view |
This Q&A explores and seeks to clarify questions around Regulated Private Assurance for those who are involved in official and private sector activities aimed at assessing food business controls.
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Q&A Regulated Private Assurance |
Food Standards Delivery Review
In order to better understand the different ways in which food standards regulatory controls are being delivered, and to better appreciate the current pressures on Local Authorities in maintaining effective delivery, we conducted a baseline survey of all Local Authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to assess the current delivery arrangements for food standards.
There was a positive response to the survey and we are currently analysing the data to identify:
We will publish a report of our findings later in the summer and will set out our recommendations for further work in relation to food standards within the new regulatory model. In the meantime, we welcome input on any specific issue in relation to food standards and the Regulating Our Future ( ROF) programme, through our dedicated mailbox ROFRegistration@food.gov.uk
