Food Law News - UK - 2001


FSA Press Release (2001/0152), 3 October 2001

ENFORCEMENT - Grilled Local Authority Hot On Enforcement - Next wave of audits announced

The Food Standards Agency has today published an in-depth audit of how Cambridge City Council is performing against its responsibilities for protecting consumers and enforcing the law on food hygiene and safety locally. The audit report reveals that the local authority has come through the audit with very positive results, demonstrating a high standard of performance in most of its activities.

The audit covered Cambridge's work on inspecting food premises in its area, the sampling they carry out, and any resulting enforcement action they take. The audit also looked at how Cambridge responded to complaints and the advice they gave to consumers and food businesses.

David Statham, Director of Enforcement and Food Standards at the Agency said:
" Cambridge deserve to be congratulated on coming through this audit so well. It is obvious that consumers in Cambridge are receiving a quality food service. This local authority had many strong points and much good work is being done. It is important that local authorities are innovative in how they work and Cambridge is, particularly proactive in its work with local businesses. One benefit of auditing local authorities is being able to share best practice. I am sure many local authorities can learn from how Cambridge are working."

The audit discovered Cambridge to be strong in the following areas:

The audit found one key area where improvement was required - the drafting of improvement notices. A significant number of improvement notices had not been drawn up in full accordance with the relevant official guidance. This should be remedied through training and tighter monitoring in this area.

The next wave of audits was also announced today. They are Buckinghamshire, Hastings, Ribble Valley, East Sussex, Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, Hinckley and Bosworth, Woking, Harlow, Bexley and West Somerset. These audits will be conducted between October and December 2001.


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