South Northamptonshire Council

The authority had developed a service plan 2009/2010 which had been approved by members and was broadly in line with the Service Planning Guidance in the Framework Agreement. Having regard to internal reporting mechanisms within the corporate structure, the service plan as a whole would benefit from a more detailed annual review, including addressing any additional variances in meeting the service delivery plan.

A food safety procedure index had been developed to demonstrate document control, documents developed, issue dates and status of the documents. Documented policies and procedures had been developed and implemented covering a range of food law enforcement responsibilities. These had been reviewed and were up to date.

The authority should expand its documented procedure for the authorisation of officers to include more detail on the means of assessing the competence of individual officers. To ensure officers are appropriately authorised under correct legislation, confirmation should be sought from the authority’s legal department.

There was evidence that individual officers' training needs were being assessed as part of the annual appraisal process, but these requirements needed to be drawn together into a documented training programme for the benefit of the individuals and the team. Records confirmed that officers had received the 10 hours of food training required by the Food Law Code of Practice.

File and database checks confirmed that the authority was generally implementing an effective food premises inspection programme across all risk categories, including the implementation of a new intervention scheme for visits at lower risk category C and D food premises. Food hygiene inspections had been carried out at the minimum frequencies and within the timeframes specified within the Food Law Code of Practice. Timely and appropriate follow-up action had been taken to address identified non-compliance of food legislation in accordance with the authority’s enforcement policy.

Files examined showed that all premises requiring approval within the authority’s area had been approved under current legislation. All premises had been inspected at the required frequency. Generally, file records were well organised and easily retrievable and the authority had undertaken thorough evaluations of the HACCP systems.

File and database record checks confirmed that in all cases examined, complaints were being properly investigated and appropriate follow-up actions had been taken. Complaint records checked were found to be complete and accurate.

The authority had a documented sampling policy, developed within the Northamptonshire Food Liaison Group, a related procedure, and an up-to-date sampling programme. There was clear evidence that the authority was actively participating in both local and national sampling programmes. File checks showed that in all cases of unsatisfactory sample results the authority had taken appropriate follow-up actions and food business operators had been informed of outcomes.

There was clear evidence that the authority was using effective enforcement powers to ensure that food business operators were compliant with the legislation. The authority was able to show that it had used a considered graduated approach to enforcement in line with their enforcement policy and that the actions taken had been appropriate in all cases.

The service had developed a procedure for internal monitoring which should be reviewed and expanded to verify conformance with the standard across all food law enforcement activities, including complaints, sampling and approved establishments. In practice, the authority was undertaking a variety of methods of quantitative and qualitative monitoring of the service.

Auditors noted that although there had been no formal recent Inter- authority Audit, the authority had been working within the Northamptonshire Food Liaison Group on a number of consistency exercises, including a joint inspection peer review exercise at butchers’ shops in the county. An internal audit of food safety had been carried out at the authority in May 2008 to examine systems and controls.

Auditors noted a number of examples of good practice undertaken by the authority and in particular noted within the scope of the audit, proactive responses to the recommendations from the Public Inquiry into the 2005 E. coli 0157 Outbreak in South Wales, taken individually by the authority and collectively within the County Food Liaison Group.