Derwentside
Monday 21 October 2002
21-23 May 2002
The Authority had recently undertaken a major review of the food law enforcement service, which had lead to an organisational restructure and the development of a range of improvement plans.
Although the audit was carried out at a relatively early stage in this process, the Authority had commenced implementation of these plans and it was clear that they were beginning to provide an improvement in Service delivery.
There were, however, a number of significant problems that remained to be addressed, many of which had already been identified by the Authority. It is important that the officers are properly authorised and that the Service has a consistent approach to formal enforcement actions in accordance with the official guidance.
Although the Authority was prioritising inspections of high risk premises, not all inspections had been made at the correct frequency and a large backlog of lower risk premises inspections had accumulated. It is also important that adequate records of inspections and enforcement actions are maintained. All of these issues should be addressed through the planned improvements that the Authority has initiated and by more comprehensive and systematic monitoring.
The Authority's Strengths
Organisation and Management
There was a clear-sighted management commitment to remedy the deficiencies evident from the records of past performance. A systematic analysis of the food law enforcement service had been carried out, and many of the areas for improvement raised in this report had already been identified by the Authority and were being addressed. These were clearly set out in the Service’s improvement plans and work programmes. Full implementation of the structural and procedural improvements that were being put in place at the time of audit should ensure that a consistently good standard of service delivery could be achieved.
Key Areas For Improvement
Officer Authorisations
The Authority’s scheme of delegated authority, the Enforcement Policy and the Authorisation Procedure were not consistent and it could not be confirmed that officers had been properly authorised to carry out their duties. This could render the Authority vulnerable to successful challenge during formal enforcement proceedings.
Records
There was considerable variation in the level of record keeping between officers and there were gaps in the records of inspections and enforcement actions across most areas of Service activity. Comprehensive and retrievable records are important to inform officers of the history of compliance of food businesses, to enable appropriate enforcement decisions to be made in a staged approach and to permit effective internal monitoring to be carried out.
Inspection Frequencies
Although high risk businesses were being inspected as a priority, the Authority had not carried out inspections of food premises at the required minimum frequencies according to risk and had accumulated a significant back-log of overdue inspections. The minimum inspection frequencies, as set out in official guidance, aim to ensure that enforcement authorities regularly monitor the standards in food businesses, enabling timely intervention.
Enforcement Actions
The Authority’s Enforcement Policy was not consistent with its scheme of delegated authority and operational procedures for formal enforcement actions. It could not be confirmed that the Authority was taking a consistent and graduated approach to enforcement in accordance with its Enforcement Policy and official guidance.
Internal Monitoring
Although some monitoring of quantitative performance against internal targets had been carried out, the Authority had yet to implement a comprehensive and systematic qualitative monitoring process to ensure that it was acting in accordance with official guidance and its own policies and procedures across all areas of Service activity.
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