I raised in the Scottish Parliament the news that nearly half of Fife food premises are currently awaiting inspection following press coverage of a recent audit from Food Standards Scotland which has shown a backlog in the number of food premises inspections.
I raised a motion in the Scottish Parliament highlighting the issue and further raised the issue during portfolio questions in the Scottish Parliament, claiming that budget cuts to local authorities are having a direct impact on council run services.
It is deeply concerning that the audit report found that the environmental health resources, including staffing, for conducting official controls was ‘insufficient’ to achieve the requirements of the Food Law Code of Practice.
Fife Council must do all that it can to ensure that food premises are inspected to ensure that high standards of food hygiene are in force for customers of food premises across Fife.
But one of the drivers for this backlog is cuts to local authority budgets and it is a worrying because cuts should not impact customers of food premises in Fife in relation to food safety and food hygiene which is absolutely essential to keep to a high standard.
Copy of audit report can be accessed here –
Full text of the motion is below –
Motion Number: S5M-17160
Lodged By: Alex Rowley
Date Lodged: 02/05/2019
Title: Budget Cuts Bite Fife Food Inspections
Motion Text:
That the Parliament is deeply concerned by the news that nearly half of Fife food premises are currently awaiting inspection following a recent audit that showed a backlog in the number of food premises inspections; acknowledges that Food Standards Scotland carried out checks in August 2018, which found that 2,283 out of 4,325 food premises were waiting to undergo inspection, while another 272 were unrated as they had yet to be inspected; understands that the audit showed that 60 premises were in the “high risk” A and B categories, with a further 114 in category C, 766 in category D and 1,343 in category E; notes that the audit report found that environmental health resources, including staffing, for conducting official controls was “insufficient” to achieve the requirements of the Food Law Code of Practice (Scotland) 2015; recognises that the report also states that budget information for food activities produced by Fife Council appear to show a reducing allocation of finance to the service, falling steadily from £635,000 in 2014-15 to under £500,000 in 2018-19; considers that Fife Council must do all that it can to ensure that food premises are inspected to ensure that high standards of food hygiene are in force for customers of food premises across Fife, and further considers that cuts to local authority budgets should not impact customers of food premises in Fife in relation to food safety and food hygiene.
