Agenda item

Ellie Greenwood, Senior Advisor, introduced the paper seeking the Board’s views on supporting the mandatory display of food hygiene ratings as well as the Food Standards Agency’s discussion on its regulatory strategy.

The scheme is currently mandatory in Wales and soon to be so in Northern Ireland. All councils in England are now part of the scheme. The Food Standards Agency believe that mandatory display within the scheme will help to improve food hygiene / public health and reduce the negative impact of foodborne illness. The FSA’s preferred option is that businesses are charged for revisits where they are unhappy with a rating. The Welsh legislation requires the cost of this to be reasonable; Welsh local authorities have determined this at £150 per inspection.

Members made a number of comments in relation to the paper:

·         the New Zealand model of self-policing should be explored further;

·         there was support for the scheme being mandatory, this should also apply to online and market stalls;

·         the need for enforcement to ensure businesses were not displaying higher ratings than they achieved.

Members were also supportive of introducing an upfront registration fee before food businesses can start trading. Members felt the fees should be set locally to allow flexibility for new businesses and local variation. The fees should be paid to the local authority who carries out the inspection and not where the company is registered.

Decision:

The Board agreed to endorse recommendation four, that the LGA publically endorses mandatory display of food hygiene ratings. The Board also agreed to support upfront registration fees for food businesses.

Action:

Officers to progress taking into account members comments.