Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       The Food Standards Agency, in their monitoring and oversight role, require all NI District Councils to prepare an annual Food Service Delivery Plan which sets out the Council’s key functions and planned activities for delivery of food hygiene, food standards and other food safety related responsibilities.

1.2       This report presents Belfast City Council’s draft Food Service Delivery Plan for the 2024/25 year and seeks Committee approval of the draft plan so that it can be submitted to the Food Standards Agency for review.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is requested to approve the draft Belfast City Council Food Service Delivery Plan 2024-2025

3.0       Main report

3.1       The Council’s Food Safety Unit works with local businesses to build compliance with Food Law and to ensure that food produced and sold in Belfast is safe and can be trusted. This not only protects the consumer and public health, but also protects and enhances the reputation of the City, our local businesses and their competitiveness, thereby supporting economic growth.

3.2       Food related illness costs the local economy, individual businesses and the consumer- people may suffer from food poisoning and food related illness, potentially resulting in hospital admissions for some patients, and costing the Belfast economy through work related absences and consumer claims.

3.3       To protect consumers, the Council is required to implement a programme of planned food hygiene and food standards inspections for food businesses across the city. These inspections are programmed based on food safety risks presented by the businesses. Food sampling programmes are also delivered throughout the year, and the Council responds to and investigates food complaints as well as cases of food borne illness.

3.4       The Food Hygiene Rating Act (NI) 2016 requires businesses to display their food hygiene rating, improving the opportunities for consumers to make informed choices and encouraging improved compliance. Currently at least 84% of food businesses are rated as 3, 4 or 5 (broadly compliant or better). See Appendix 2 for ratings breakdown.

3.5       Work to ensure allergen requirements placed on food business are being adhered to, forms an important element of the Food Safety service, and aims to protect consumers who have food allergies from harm. It is estimated that around 2 million people living in the UK have a food allergy. Following a number of high profile cases resulting in fatalities, new legislation has been introduced since 2021 regarding the adequacy of labelling requirements for food that is prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) i.e., food that has been packed on the same premises from which it is being sold. Our officers monitor compliance and offer support to businesses during their inspections.

3.6       The Council’s imported food control function continues to facilitate trade while ensuring food safety and public health is protected by undertaking official controls at Belfast Port. From the 1st October 2023 the Windsor Framework  introduced the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme (NIRMS ‘green lane’ scheme) to facilitate qualifying traders to move retail goods from GB to NI. Whilst DAERA oversee the NIRMs arrangements, both DAERA and local Councils undertake official controls on other food products arriving at NI ports that are destined for, or at risk of entering the EU (red lane). For Belfast City Council this includes controls on fish products, high risk food not of animal origin, plastic kitchenware from China and Hong Kong, and organic products. Work to finalise processes, infrastructure and a longer-term sustainable resourcing model for these services will continue to require input from the Port Health service in the 2024/25 year. The Port Health service continues to work closely with the Food Standards Agency, DAERA, DEFRA, other government departments, local businesses and other stakeholders to ensure adequate arrangements are in place to facilitate trade and protect consumers.

3.7       Key Issues - Food Service Delivery Plan

            Each year, the Council produces a Food Service Delivery Plan which sets out the activities, techniques and approaches to be taken during the year to support businesses in ensuring food safety, food standards and to promote informed healthy choices. The Plan provides the basis on which the Council’s regulatory activities are monitored and audited by the Food Standards Agency, and it is a requirement that it is presented to the Council for approval.

3.8       The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has a key role in overseeing local authority regulatory activities to ensure that official controls are delivered. Powers to enable the FSA to monitor and audit local authorities are contained in the Food Standards Act 1999. A detailed Framework Agreement on local food law enforcement has been produced by the Agency, in conjunction with local authority representative bodies, to provide guidance on how regulatory service plans should be structured and what they should contain. The Belfast City Council Food Service Delivery Plan for 2024/25 has been drafted in line with the framework requirements..

3.9       The Framework Agreement described above requires that Food Service Delivery Plans should be submitted to the relevant Member forum, in this case the People and Communities Committee, for approval. This is to ensure local transparency and accountability.

3.10      A summary of the key work activities completed in the last year and profiling the work of the unit is included for information in Appendix 1. A summary of current food hygiene ratings is included in Appendix 2. The Food Service Delivery Plan for 2024/2025 is included in Appendix 3.

3.11      Members should note that during the Covid pandemic (between 2020 and 2022), food hygiene and food standards inspection programmes were significantly impacted, as visits were paused due to business closures during periods of lock down, and subsequent restrictions on social distancing etc. The FSA worked with Local Authorities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland during 2022/23 to develop recovery plans for food safety services, setting priorities for service recovery at that time. Belfast City Council’s Food Safety team successfully achieved the key milestones and objectives for 2022/23 and 2023/24 which were designed to focus interventions on the highest risk businesses, bringing these back into the routine inspection programme. In 2023/24, significant progress was made towards returning to normal inspection frequencies for the vast majority of businesses across the range of high, moderate and low risk categories.

3.12      The FSA recovery plan approach ceased on 31st March 2023. This change has renewed the expectation for Local Authorities to return businesses to their normal inspection frequencies, as laid out in the Food Law Code of Practice. The FSA have however acknowledged that a backlog of inspections still remains among many Local Authorities and have advised that a pragmatic and risk-based approach should continue to be adopted where this is needed. Belfast City Council’s Food Service Delivery Plan for 2024/25 reflects this approach and the inspection programme prepared by the Council’s Food Safety team aims to return the vast majority of businesses to normal inspection frequencies. For some businesses in the very lowest risk category the service will also utilise alternative enforcement strategies to ensure these businesses continue to address food safety issues, while ensuring business risk profiles are up to date.

3.13      FSA will be continuing its work in 2024/25 to modernise the delivery models for Food Standards and Food Hygiene regulatory inspection programmes, to ensure inspections and resources are better targeted based on risk, while reducing burdens for businesses and Competent Authorities where possible. A new Food Standards Delivery Model is to be introduced this year. For food hygiene, FSA have indicated that following feedback from a pre-consultation exercise in 2023, implementation of changes to the Food Hygiene delivery model has been postponed until the Food Standards delivery model is introduced later this year. Councils will be further consulted on proposed changes to the Food Hygiene delivery model as the models evolve.

3.14      Financial and Resource Implications

            The Food Standards Agency provides some grant funding to help support these services on an annual basis to all District Councils in NI. This funding is allocated based on population size of each District as well as the profile of food businesses located within each area. In 2024/25 the funding allocated to Belfast City Council remained relatively consistent at just under £300,000 (£298,481)

            The remaining resources required for this core service are included within the City and Neighbourhood Services existing budgets and no additional resources are anticipated.

3.15      Equality or Good Relations Implications/

      Rural Needs Assessments

      None.”

            The Committee approved the draft Belfast City Council Food Service Delivery Plan 2024-2025.