FSA publishes local authority audit report for the Vale of Glamorgan Council

Friday 3 September 2004

Ref: WA31/04CK

Food Standards Agency Wales has published an in-depth report on the Vale of Glamorgan Council's food hygiene, food standards and feedingstuffs law enforcement.

The authority demonstrated a commitment to providing a comprehensive service, with evidence of a range of enforcement and health promotion options being utilised.

Its sampling activities were particularly well focused and executed, with appropriate action being taken where unsatisfactory results were identified.

However, food standards and food hygiene inspections had not been carried out at the minimum frequencies required by the Food Safety Act Codes of Practice, although increases in the resource available to the food law enforcement service have enabled the authority to improve performance.

Additionally, records in relation to the investigation of sporadic cases of food related infectious diseases were insufficiently detailed to enable an assessment of whether appropriate action had been taken.

However, the authority had recently introduced internal monitoring systems and work procedures to cover all areas of service delivery.

A full overview of the audit findings is provided in the report executive summary.