North Lincolnshire Council

The authority had produced a Food Service Plan for 2008/2009 which was in line with the Service Planning Guidance in the Framework Agreement and included a detailed review of the previous year’s service plan. This showed a shortfall in the operational staffing resource which had further declined during 2008/2009.

There was no effective control system for the authority’s documented food service policies and procedures. A significant number of these had been recently updated with the exception of the approved establishment procedure which had been drawn up prior to the audit.

The authority had produced a documented procedure for the authorisation of officers and an officer authorisation index, which linked the competencies required to the level of authorisation. One officer had undertaken inspections at an approved establishment without having the appropriate qualifications to do so. The authority, therefore, needed to review their officer authorisations in line with officer qualifications, experience and competency.

There was no documented procedure in place for ensuring that the food premises database was accurate and up to date, although audit checks, specific to approved establishments, confirmed that the database contained records of all the approved establishments.

Officers were receiving annual employment development reviews that highlighted training requirements. However, there was a need to ensure that all officers receive appropriate training in formal enforcement, HACCP, and where necessary the inspection of specialist or complex processes.

The authority did not have a standardised aide-memoire to ensure that officers always fully recorded the details of an intervention in accordance with the Code of Practice, in particular recording the progress of the business in complying with procedures based on HACCP. In addition, the authority should maintain up to date, accurate, comprehensive and easily retrievable records for all approved establishments. These records should include the determination of compliance with legal requirements and comprehensive reports of all inspections, visits and approvals.

All of the approved establishments files inspected had been recently approved or re-approved and file records contained an internally prepared approval document. Detailed records of inspection findings were not maintained in line with the requirements of the Code of Practice and centrally issued guidance.

The authority had developed a procedure for the investigation of food complaints. Audit checks indicated that recent complaints and referrals received in relation to approved establishments had been fully investigated.

The authority had a documented sampling policy and procedure. The authority had undertaken sampling within approved establishments, but those samples that had repeatedly shown unsatisfactory results had not been investigated in line with internal policies and procedures.

The authority had included some aspects of internal monitoring within the food service documented procedures. It was clear that quantitative performance monitoring against inspection targets had been carried out, both within the team and at senior management level. The auditors were advised that some qualitative monitoring had been undertaken but this needed to be expanded; in particular, to ensure approved establishments files met the requirements of the service procedure and those of the Food Law Code of Practice.