Evaluation of the Food Standards Pilot in Wales: Annex 5 End of pilot interview guide for control Local Authorities

Background

Purpose: To identify any changes if the person has changed

1. Please can you introduce yourself and your role within your authority?

• Length of service
• Change in role – amount of time they spend on standards – whether this is consistent
• Whether role was different through the last 6 months

2. Please can you describe how your delivery of food standard controls has changed since the last interview (if it has changed)? [September- February 2023/24]

• Overall staffing resources

3. If there have been any changes, why were these introduced? [probe for conversations with other LAs, not enough capacity, other reasons?]

Non-compliance identification

4. How are you currently identifying non-compliances? [probe for specific examples to illustrate] 

• Is this effective?
• What can be improved?
• Consistent approach?

5. Are you carrying out Remote Interventions (RIs)?

• If so, in what circumstances?
• How effective do you think they are?
• Effect on different types of FBO
• Staff perception of use

6. What do you think are the main benefits of RIs? [probe for specific examples to illustrate] 

• Targeting resources/saving staff time 
• Gathering data

7. How will you use RIs in the future? [probe for specific examples to illustrate] 

• Resource planning
• Guiding 

8. How is sampling used to guide your work? [probe for specific examples to illustrate] 

• How has this changed since the last interview? 
• Are you conducting more/less sampling? Please explain 

Use of Intelligence

9. How does your organisation typically gather intelligence? [explain what intelligence is if not clear] [probe for specific examples to illustrate] 

• How is this recorded?
  • Ease of uploading data?
• How is this intelligence communicated?
  • Communicated to whom?
  • Accessed by whom?

10. Has the way that your LA uses intelligence changed since the last interview?

• Why/Why not?
• Definition of intelligence – is there a broader classification? 
• Type of intelligence shared
• Data updating/sharing
• Resource planning 
• Uses to identify non-compliance

11. What tools are used to share intelligence? 

• Is this the same as before?

12. What do you use intelligence for? 

• How does this influence work planning?

13. What are the barriers to using intelligence?

Barriers/Enablers

14. What is the main challenge in the delivery of food standards controls today? 

• How can the FSA address this?
  • Wider support/collaboration needed 
• How are you addressing this?

15. Has there been a change in your relationships with the establishments since the last interview?

16. Are you carrying out any practices which you think could be considered best practice?

• How are these shared?

Close

17. How could the FSA better support the delivery of Food Standards?

18. Is there anything you’d like to add to the discussion?