Agenda and minutes

There were none.

There were none.

(NOTE: The Board is required to receive a deputation(s) on a matter which is before the meeting of the Board provided that notice of the intended deputation and its object shall have been received by the Borough Solicitor by 12 noon on Monday 27^th June 2022. The total time for deputations in favour and against a proposal shall not exceed 10 minutes).

There were none.

(NOTE: The Board is required to allow a total of 15 minutes for questions from Members of the public on matters within the terms of reference of the Board provided that notice of such Question(s) shall have been submitted to the Borough Solicitor by 12 noon on Monday 27^th June 2022)

A question was received from Mr Dowell as follows:

Agenda item 6 para 2.5, and Appendix A paras 53 and 61, identify 227 food hygiene inspections across Risk categories A-D are required over a 10 months period.  Para 60 also states 17 new premises are awaiting inspection so will not have a Risk Rating Score (para 47).  This would suggest at least 244 (i.e. 227 + 17) food hygiene inspections are needed in the next 10 months.  If any of these inspections result in a new A Risk assessment an additional inspection within 6 months would be required further increasing the number of inspections required.

Pre-pandemic food hygiene inspection performance (Appendix A para 56) shows an average of 22.5 inspections per month (271 in FY18/19 and 270 in FY19/20) yet the report identifies a capacity for around 30 per month.  A total of 225 inspections for a 10-month period seems probable, all other influencing factors being equal, significantly short of the minimum 244 required.

Appendix A para 17 identifies that at times consultants may be required to conduct inspections.  

What has changed in the Environmental Health team that 33% (30 vice 22.5) more inspections per month are predicted over the next 10 months compared with pre-pandemic performance and, if nothing that explains the increased performance, what budget provision has been made to employ external resources to deliver any shortfall against the inspection requirement?

Was answered as follows:

The Food Premises Inspection programme is one of the key measures employed by the Food Standards Agency to measure the effectiveness of Local Authority Food Law Enforcement. Every year for the last 10 or so Gosport has achieved around 100% of its programme, this whilst many other Authorities have really struggled. The ultimate penalty is that the FSA could take over the inspection programme and invoice the Authority for the cost.

At the time of writing we have around 244 inspections outstanding. We know this will be a challenging target to meet and you rightly highlight there are a number of unknown factors that could impact the inspections work. We are prioritising the inspection programme as that’s what we have been directed to do and some of the other lower priority work has been put on the backburner to free up resource for inspections. The team are incredibly proud of their performance in recent years and are going the extra mile now to catch up. We have some financial resource set aside should we need outside help, but at the moment we are not planning to call upon this, as it’s a very difficult market.

Should we fall short of the target it won’t be by very many overall and we are unlikely to attract attention from the Food Standards Agency as a result and would expect to catch those up early in the next financial year.

RESOLVED: That Councillor Kelly be elected as Vice-Chairman for the Municipal Year 2022-23.

Following the pandemic, the Food Standards Agency has produced COVID-19 Local Authority Recovery guidance and advice. This requires local authorities to ensure that they have documented and approved recovery service plans in place that set out how they intend to deliver and resource their planned interventions and other activities during the recovery period, up to 2023/24. The purpose of this report is to set out the Recovery plan for Gosport’s Food Hygiene Inspection programme.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Environmental Health advising that the Food Standards Agency has produced COVID-19 Local Authority Recovery guidance and advice. This requires local authorities to ensure that they have documented and approved recovery service plans in place that set out how they intend to deliver and resource their planned interventions and other activities during the recovery period, up to 2023/24. The purpose of this report was to set out the Recovery plan for Gosport’s Food Hygiene Inspection programme.

The Board was advised that the FSA had introduced the need for a recovery plan following the Covid 19 pandemic. The inspections had stopped during the lock downs and even on reopening premises such as care homes and schools had been unable to have inspectors inside.

The Board was advised that the team was expected to be on track with its milestones and that there was some funding set aside, should it be needed to boost inspection rates. The funding was as a result of grants received for additional work undertaken during the pandemic.

It was felt that the team were in a good place to be able to complete the required inspections.

Members thanked the teams involved in the inspections and welcomed that they would be on target and were catching up fast with overdue inspections.

A Members asked how the ratings of premises were advertised. The Board was advised that there were advertised centrally on the FSA’s website and that a link was on the Gosport Borough Council website to the ratings. Premises were not required by law to advertise their rating.

It was also advised that food delivery services such as Just Eat were also utlising FSA ratings on their website and apps.

The Board was advised that some vendors were excluded or exempt from having their details published, this included military bases and childminders in private dwellings.

Other premises were exempt from being inspected as they did not have food service as their primary business, this included shops that sold seasonal goods.

Members reiterated their thanks to the team for their hard work.

The Board noted that there was a large increase in food takeaway and delivery services as a result of the pandemic and questioned the measures in place to ensure that these newer premises were working at an appropriate standard.

The Board was advised that any complaints made against such companies would be considered and investigated, however the FSA ratings covered the food as prepared. The inspections considered whether the food had been cooked to an appropriate temperature and how it had been prepared. It could not control the temperature at which the food arrived at but that officers would discuss all elements of the food safety with the owners.

The Board also questioned the process in schools with regard to children’s lunchboxes. The Head of Environmental Health advised that they would provide an update to Members on the specifics of schools.

The Board was advised that the external  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

This report summarises the most recent available information on the level of Hampshire Pension Fund investments in fossil fuels and the overall carbon footprint of Hampshire Pension Fund investments, as requested by Climate Change Board members on 10th March 2022. It also identifies a possible mechanism by which the Council can influence future investments, should Members wish to do so.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Policy and Community Safety  and it summarises the most recent available information on the level of Hampshire Pension Fund investments in fossil fuels and the overall carbon footprint of Hampshire Pension Fund investments, as requested by Climate Change Board members on 10^th March 2022.  It also identifies a possible mechanism by which the Council can influence future investments, should Members wish to do so.

Members welcomed that steps were being taken to ensure that investments were suitable.

RESOLVED: That the Board:

1.    Reviews and notes the information in section 2.

2.    Delegates authority to the Head of Finance and the Climate Change Officer to work with the Chairperson of the Community and Environment Board, to agree and submit  a response to the current consultation on the Hampshire Pension Fund Responsible Investment Policy response on behalf of the Council.

Members were advised that there was currently travelers on site in the Borough and that Officers were engaging with Police and pursuing legal action. The use of skips to dispose of waste was being examined and other sites were being checked to protect access. This was being dealt with as quickly and legally as possible.