Operational transformation

The Operational Transformation Programme (OTP) is modernising the way the FSA directly delivers Official Controls in the meat, dairy and wine sectors. We underpin this work by principles which will continue to increase standards across industry. Central to this programme, is our dedication to ensuring that food is safe and is what it says it is, and to keeping consumer trust and safety at the heart of everything we do.

Our vision

The overall ambition of the programme is to move towards a more proportionate and evidence-based approach to regulation in order to optimise inspection and assurance activities, to promote economic growth and support trade, to provide value for money but, above all, to continue to protect consumers and support the delivery of animal health and welfare outcomes, as we adapt to a changing landscape of food production. 

Fundamental to taking a new approach is a Future Delivery Model (FDM) which will introduce a more proportionate risk and evidence-based approach to regulation,
introducing clearer accountability between Industry (as food producer) and FSA (as regulator) in order to optimise inspection and assurance activities by targeting them based on rigorous evidence, analysis and insight to ensure that they are more focused on areas of higher risk and non-compliance.

The impact of the new FDM on the FSA and food producers:

• more efficient collection and use of data due to more reliance on digital capability.
• a more risk-based, segmented approach to routine engagement with industry tailoring levels of inspection and presence based on risk and compliance levels. 
• Changes to operational processes and tasks undertaken by Meat Hygiene Inspectors and Official Veterinarians to ensure they are adding the maximum value to food safety and animal health and welfare where there is room in current legislation for us to do so. Significant changes to roles and responsibilities is dependent upon future legislative change.

Objectives during 2021/22

During 2021/22 the aspirations and proposals outlined in the initial FDM were developed and tested with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that the proposals were supported and were flexible enough to ensure a range of delivery options. Having sought and gained support for the FDM, a number of specific early deliverables were identified, agreed and progressed following the FSA Board approval.

Progress against objectives

Legislative requirement discovery

Under the OTP, a dedicated legislative strategy team has been established and is undertaking a gap analysis of current regulations versus the ambitions of the FDM to determine which areas of legislation would need to be changed and reviewing potential pathways for delivering legislative changes in the future.

Launch the pilot for the initial segmentation model

We set out to create a data engine that will be used to better target FSA resources and interventions based on risk. This will recognise the efforts of highly compliant businesses by taking a more proportionate approach to regulation. 

Segmentation has been used in a targeted and limited way to determine audit frequency and unannounced inspection activity. This targeted approach allowed us
to carefully test and track the accuracy of the scoring in the segmentation tool. The targeted approach will start in Q1 2022/23 and evaluation will be undertaken
before beginning to explore additional data indicators and wider use of the approach in coming years. Pilot data indicators include enforcement data, investigation/
prosecution history, animal welfare breaches and audit outcomes. 

Develop a FDM for Operations to present to the FSA Board

In May 2021 the Future Delivery Model was presented to the FSA Board and having secured support for ongoing engagement with stakeholders, a public consultation exercise was undertaken to gather a wide range of views from Consumer Groups, Industry and Industry Bodies, Government Departments and Devolved Administrations. The consultation findings were presented to the Board in September 2021 and the Board endorsed the Operational Transformation Programme’s proposals for the Future Delivery Model and agreed the Programme’s work programme for the following 12 months.

Digital Technology Improvements

We aimed to exploit technological advances to support the more effective delivery of Official Controls, ensuring we use robust methods to inspect, verify, assure, and
gather the data. As a result, a number of digital projects are being developed, including:

A successful trial of video streaming technology for use during remote audits. Work is planned to undertake a market scan to identify a suitable permanent software
solution. 

A new web-based digital solution is being implemented to support the approvals process for FSA regulated meat premises. 

Other innovations are in the early development stages such as improving how we collect inspection results and food chain information; improve evidence gathering
and report production for audit and inspection activity. 

Discussions are underway to consider the potential use of Artificial Intelligence linked to CCTV to improve animal welfare monitoring.

Next steps

Our intention for 2022/23 is to continue to review legislative opportunities to help support OTP objectives and make recommendations for change. The programme will also continue to focus on several digital opportunities, such as updates to the audit and inspection digital space and a review on Food Chain Information (FCI) and
Collection and Communication of Inspection Results (CCIR). 

Campaign: Speak up for Allergies (second phase)

Aims:

Support and encourage 18 to 21 year olds to speak up about their food allergies when eating out in restaurants and to normalise the conversation amongst peers by encouraging them to support a friend when ordering. For food businesses to highlight the importance of their role in responding to people with food allergies.

When:

9 March 2022 to 30 March 2022 

Spend:

Business campaign £90,000 Young People's campaign £90,000 (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

What we did:

We delivered two campaigns one targeting food businesses and one young people. Insight shows that young people with food allergies are less likely to speak up about their food allergy in a busy restaurant, or if front-of-house staff are unhelpful. It also demonstrated that friends play an important role in encouraging a young person to speak up about their allergies and tell the restaurant when dining out, therefore this was a pivotal focus of the campaign.

The food business campaign highlighted the important role that they have in protecting people with food allergies. It focused on how the response from a food business really matters. We launched the food business campaign first and supported food businesses to do the right thing by directing them to our online resources, including online allergen management training. We developed a Speak Up For Allergies video which was promoted to businesses using YouTube and Facebook. The second campaign targeted young people themselves using a digital first approach.

We used a video specifically targeting young people to show the impact a supportive friend can have for someone with allergies when ordering food. This video was promoted across YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook with a link to our Speak Up for Allergies campaign page. All resources were bilingual and paid content in Wales was promoted equally in both English and Welsh language. We worked with two social media influencers to deliver the content on TikTok and
Instagram in a way that would engage our target audience.

The results:

The total reach of the paid spend for the young people's element of the campaign was 1,024,844, the most efficient channel being Snapchat. The influencer content reached over 83,000 people. The Speak Up For Allergies webpage which included advice to young people received 14,862 visits.

We provided businesses with over 1.5 million opportunities to see this campaign and generated 23,470 visitors to the Allergen checklist page. We worked with over 120 partners organisations to deliver messages to over 200,000 businesses and saw a 700% increase in downloads of resources.

Back to the Main report: Activities and Performances 2021/22.