Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

The authority had developed and implemented a detailed food law enforcement service plan for 2010-2011 which satisfied the service planning guidance in the Framework Agreement. The plan had been approved by the appropriate member forum.

Most officers had been authorised in accordance with their qualifications, training and experience. However, one officer had been authorised to undertake work at a level above their experience and competence in a deviation from the authority's documented procedure on the authorisation of officers. Auditors were unable to find evidence that the officer was only allocated work at a level commensurate with their experience and competence as required by the Food Law Code of Practice (Wales). However, the authority provided auditors with a list of premises assigned to that officer after the onsite visit. The list did not contain any premises with a Category A or B risk rating.

Individual officers' training needs were not identified as part of their annual performance review as these had not been conducted recently. However, training records contained evidence that each Officer had completed the required minimum 10 hours relevant training in the last year.

The service had developed and implemented a wide range of documented policies and procedures covering its food law enforcement responsibilities, including the authorisation of officers. However, at the time of the audit there was no documented policy for internal monitoring. Auditors were unable to evidence any records of internal monitoring being undertaken.

These documents were available to all Officers in electronic format on a read only basis to ensure that only latest and most up to date documents were available. However, none of the documents had been reviewed on a regular basis as indicated in the documented procedure for the control and review of documented policies and procedures.

Auditors reviewed seven food premises files during the onsite audit. Food business operators (FBOs) were provided with clearly worded reports or letters confirming the findings from inspections, differentiating between legal requirements and advice. The aide-memoire used for capturing information during an inspection/intervention was comprehensive and appropriate. Some revisits were not recorded and therefore auditors were unable to evidence if any legally required works had been completed.

The authority had undertaken a full range of enforcement from warning letters to Hygiene Improvement Notices to prosecutions. During the verification visits undertaken as part of the onsite audit process it was evidenced that officers paid particular attention to food safety management systems based on HACCP principles. This was recorded on the premises file.

It was evident from audit checks that Officers were taking a graduated approach to enforcement and actively worked with businesses to achieve compliance. The information reviewed relating to Hygiene Improvement Notices and prosecutions identified that the enforcement decisions reached were appropriate to the contraventions identified and secured appropriate improvements in compliance.

The authority had received Agency funding over the last three years for a number of specialised projects such as one to one coaching for selected FBOs as well as producing a county wide newsletter for all FBOs. Of five files checked by auditors, in terms of overall compliance, one premises had improved, two remained the same and two were less compliant.