Food Standards Agency publishes local authority audit for Blaby District Council

Wednesday 4 June 2003

Ref: 2003/0381

The Food Standards Agency today published an in-depth report on the food law enforcement services carried out by officers in the Commercial Section of Blaby District Council.

The Authority had historically achieved a high percentage of food premises inspection targets. However, the Section had been carrying vacancies in recent months and had been experiencing difficulties in meeting inspection and re-visit targets.

The audit highlighted significant problems in the Authority’s record keeping which undermined the Service’s ability to fully demonstrate the standard of food law enforcement provided. However, the information that was reviewed indicated that satisfactory levels of service delivery were being achieved in most areas of enforcement activity.

A full overview of the audit findings is provided in the report executive summary. The report, including an action plan from the Authority to address the audit findings, is available on the Agency's website via the link below.

Notes to editors

• Local authority audits are carried out as part of the Framework Agreement on local authority food law enforcement, which came into effect on 1 April 2001. Local authorities are audited against the Framework Agreement 'Standard' which sets out the full range of their food law enforcement activity.
• The audits look at how local authority enforcement officers carry out their UK food law enforcement responsibilities. This gives the Agency an overview of the measures put in place by the local authority to protect local consumers and an opportunity to suggest what, if any, improvements are needed.
• Copies of the report have also been placed in the Food Standards Agency Library, the libraries of both of the Houses of Parliament, the British Library and the Copyright Libraries.