Carrickfergus

The Council was taking decisions on enforcement that were in accordance with its enforcement policy and centrally issued guidance. Whilst there was limited evidence of the use of the full range of enforcement powers available, the Council was adopting an appropriate graduated approach towards enforcement. This approach ensured that food businesses in the Council's area achieved compliance with required legal standards.

There was a variation between the level of record keeping relating to food hygiene and food standards activities. The records of food hygiene activities were, in general, comprehensive in nature and provided details of inspections and investigations, subsequent follow-up action and a documented history of efforts to achieve compliance. The detail of records of food standards inspections was very limited and did not provide adequate information to assess the scope of the inspections and the Council's action where instances of non-compliance had been identified.

The Council was conducting internal monitoring of food enforcement activities although this was limited by the available officer time at middle and senior management levels. This was reflected in significant and erroneous under reporting of the number of food hygiene inspections completed in the monitoring returns submitted to the Food Standards Agency.

The Council's scheme of delegated powers was not fully documented and unclear. This, together with deficiencies identified in the officers authorisations, could render the Service vulnerable to effective legal challenge.