Joint Food and Safety Service Business Plan 2024 to 2025
7. Action plan
Our action plan consists of 8 tasks. A summary of the progress made against the key priority areas of the Food and Health and Safety Service Plan for 2022 to 2024 is provided in the table below:
| Action | Update |
|---|---|
| To meet the milestones set out in the FSA Recovery Roadmap and the expectations of the FSA | All the FSA milestones and expectations were met. All category A, B and non-compliant Ds were inspected, and all bar 26 category Cs were inspected. |
| As part of the harmonisation of activities from legacy areas; review policies and procedures required by the FSA Food Law- Code of Practice and Guidance |
Progressing. From 2022 to 2024, policies for sampling, enforcement and complaints were completed; programmes for interventions, sampling, alternative enforcement strategy and service plan were completed; and procedures for food incidents and alerts, authorisations, internal monitoring, sampling, food equipment and calibration, food registration and food complaints |
| Continue to participate in Primary Authority Partnership arrangements with local businesses for both food and health and safety | Officers have been engaging with the primary authority partners, including providing advice on interpretation of legislation, ensuring consistency of policy across multiple sites, reviewing revised documentation and investigation of accidents. A new partnership was set up. |
| To review the delivery of skin piercing registration applications and adoption of model byelaws | Model byelaws for skin piercing adopted and now enforced, procedures and fees reviewed and harmonised, and web pages and online applications reviewed and implemented. |
| To review the delivery of Safety Advisory Group (SAG) notifications | The legacy procedures processes and arrangements were reviewed and harmonised, website information was updated, and an online notification process developed, and MS SharePoint used as the consultation portal for SAG partners. |
| To develop and enhance the authority’s web pages in relation to food, health and safety, skin piercing and event safety | All web page content was reviewed, updated and published. Where available, online forms were introduced, and back-office processes amended to improved efficiencies. |
| Undertake an awareness and enforcement campaign to address national or local health and safety priorities | Two projects were undertaken, one looking at workplace transport in warehouses and the other looking at gas safety in catering establishments. Where serious contraventions and issues were identified, enforcement action was taken. Officers undertook training provided by Gas Safe tutors. |
| Undertake an awareness and enforcement campaign with Trading Standards Officers in relation to the provision of allergen information. | Joint training was held with TS colleagues on the legislative requirements and a process developed for the effective communication of identified issues within local businesses. |
The priority areas for the 2024 to 2025 Action Plan are provided below:
Task 1: To ensure that the 2024 to 2025 food hygiene inspection programme is completed
Responsibility: All
Monitoring: Monthly review
Target: March 2025
Actions (Task 1)
- Team leaders to identify those food businesses that require to be inspected in 2024/25 and create an inspection programme to achieve completion.
- All businesses rated category A – C to be prioritised for intervention.
- All newly registered businesses received from 2024 to 2025 triaged on receipt of registration and assigned either as low or high risk in terms of the nature of the business.
- Inspectors to prioritise the inspection of high-risk new businesses.
- Inspectors to regularly review the inspection programme for those businesses that have previously been inspected and now become due e.g. category A
- All businesses within the 2024/25 programme rated category D to receive an intervention once the priorities listed above have been completed for that month.
- All businesses within the 2024/25 programme rated category E to receive an AES intervention.
- All new businesses received in 2024/25 triaged as low risk, to receive an intervention once the priorities listed above have been completed for that month.
- Officers to use the full range of flexibilities in line with the FSA Code of Practice when considering the most appropriate form of intervention.
Success Criteria (Task 1)
- An inspection programme for 2024/25 has been produced.
- All businesses rated category A – C within the 2024/25 inspection programme have received an intervention when due.
- All new businesses triaged and any assessed as potentially high-risk to have received an inspection soon after having been triaged.
- Inspection programme is regularly reviewed, and the inspection programme amended as necessary
- All businesses rated category D within the 2024/25 inspection programme have received an intervention when due.
- All businesses rated category E within the 2024/25 inspection programme have received an intervention. All low-risk new businesses to have received an inspection soon after registration.
Task 2: To ensure that outstanding category D, E and unrated establishments have received an intervention
Responsibility: All
Monitoring: Monthly review
Target: March 2026 (50% by March 2025)
March 2027 (30%
Actions (Task 2)
- Inspectors to regularly review the existing outstanding category D inspections allocated to them and carry out an intervention once the programmed priorities listed above have been completed for that month.
- Over a 3-year period, all outstanding category E business to be contact to see whether still trading and assessed as to whether they are still providing what they originally registered for.
- Over a 3-year period, all outstanding category E business to received a self-assessment questionnaire.
- Any category E business that has changed their provision and are high risk to be added to the list of outstanding inspections and be inspected.
- Those businesses that have historically been assessed as being out of the programme by virtue of them being of such low risk as to not require an inspection, shall be contacted to see if still trading, triaged as to their potential food safety risk and treated as an unrated business.
- All new businesses received before April 2024 to be triaged and assigned either as low or high risk in terms of the nature of the business.
- All remaining unrated businesses to be triaged and assigned either as low or high risk in terms of the nature of the business.
- Any unrated or outstanding new business that is assessed as high-risk is to be added to the lift of outstanding inspections and inspected.
- Any unrated or outstanding new business that is assessed as low risk to be added to the list of outstanding inspections and inspected.
Success Criteria (Task 2)
- All outstanding category D businesses to have been inspected by March 2026
- All outstanding category E businesses to have been contacted and received an intervention by March 2027
- All out of programme businesses to have been contacted, triaged and received an intervention by March 2025
- All new food business registrations received before April 2024 have been triaged
- All unrated food businesses have been triaged
- All unrated or outstanding new businesses assessed as potentially high-risk have been inspected
- All unrated or outstanding new businesses assessed as potentially low risk have been inspected
Task 3: As part of the harmonisation of activities from legacy areas; review policies and procedures required by the FSA Food Law- Code of Practice and Guidance
Responsibility: EHM, TL
Monitoring: Monthly review against project plan
Target: October 2024
Actions (Task 3)
Identify procedures required by the FSA Food Law - Code of Practice in relation to:
- Approval of food businesses
- Food business database
- Corporate complaints
- Official food controls and activities
- Enforcement
- Outbreaks and food related infectious diseases
- Information
Identify programmes and plans required by the FSA Food Law - Code of Practice in relation to:
- Contingencies
- Sampling
- Training
- Devise a project plan to review and harmonise the identified policies, procedures and programmes
- Implement the project plan
- As part of the implementation, identify where service delivery can be improved and streamlined
Success Criteria (Task 3)
- Project plan developed and implemented
- More efficient, effective and streamlined service delivery
- Procedures and polices reviewed in light of changes
- Existing services maintained to a high standard
Task 4: Continue to participate in Primary Authority Partnership arrangements with local businesses for both food and health and safety
Responsibility: All
Monitoring: Monitoring of food and health and safety complaints/enquiries and liaison with other local authorities
Target: Ongoing
Actions (Task 4)
- Actively manage existing Primary Authority Partnerships
- In discussion with the business, develop the Primary Authority Partnership in line with government guidance
- Participate in the Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards PA Schemes
Success Criteria (Task 4)
- Continued management of existing partnerships
- Successful development and smooth implementation of new Primary Authority Partnership
Task 5: Undertake an awareness and enforcement campaign to address national or local health and safety priorities
Responsibility: EH Officers
Monitoring: Review meeting at end of project period. Briefing note provided
on successes and lessons learned for future projects
Target: March 2025
Actions (Task 5)
- In line with the HSE Strategy and guidance, identify and deliver an appropriate intervention project
- Work to include development of website information and targeted visits in collaboration with the HSE representative where appropriate
Success Criteria (Task 5)
- Identified project delivered according to the project plan. Businesses increasingly aware of the priority topic areas and implementing recommendations
Task 6: Review the fees and charges for paid-for services to ensure that full cost recovery is achieved
Responsibility: EHM, TL
Monitoring: Point in time review
Target: June 2024
Actions (Task 6)
- To review the time taken to deliver chargeable services i.e. primary authority partnerships, export health certificates, FHRS re-inspections, online food hygiene courses, new business advise service
- Considering the time taken and officer hourly rate, review the fees and charges for 2025/26 to establish a full cost recovery basis for charging
Success Criteria (Task 6)
- A better understanding of the time taken to undertake these activities
Task 7: To address the concerns raised by the FSA regarding the level of resourcing to effectively deliver the service plan in accordance with the FSA Code of Practice
Responsibility: EHM, Commercial
Monitoring: Monthly review
Target: May 2024
Actions (Task 7)
- Establish the true 'allocated' and 'occupied' FTE figures for each post
- Carry out a resource assessment to establish the level of FTE to carry out interventions at businesses rated as category A - E, unrated premises and out of programme businesses
- Carry out a resource assessment to establish the level of FTE toundertake other food safety work e.g. FHRS re-inspections, complaint investigations, Primary Authority work and the issuing of export health certificates
- Review the staffing arrangements in place to effectively deliver the full range of food and health and safety enforcement duties
Success Criteria (Task 7)
- A better representation of the amount of time spent on food safety work by post