Leeds to spend £577k hiring food inspectors after hygiene backlog warning
The hidden reason Leeds is spending more than half a million pounds on food inspectors🍴
The council is set to spend more than £570,000 a year on new food hygiene staff to cut a backlog of premises inspections.
Leeds City Council is planning to recruit 11 staff to its environmental health team after concerns were raised over delayed visits to businesses.
A council report said the Food Standards Agency (FSA) called for action to meet inspection deadlines.
It said: “Due to an increased service demand and a lack of inspection capacity, the council is unable to meet statutory requirements and there is a significant backlog of overdue hygiene inspections.
“The FSA has raised concerns regarding the backlog as delays in undertaking food hygiene inspections can result in food safety issues not being addressed, increasing the risk to public health.”
The council’s Food and Health team was currently delivering around 2,700 food business inspections a year.
The report said: “To fully comply with the statutory requirements set out by the FSA the team is required to deliver 4,500 inspections per year.”
An action plan was drawn up to clear the backlog in Leeds over the next two years.
The report said: “Failure to comply with these requirements may lead to further intervention by the FSA, including making public its concerns it has with the local authority or directing another organisation to take over the regulatory duties of the local authority.”
The report said annual funding of £577,756 for the new hygiene roles was formally approved in March.
It said: “The additional posts will increase the number of personnel in the Food and Health team from the current staffing level of 13 posts to 24 posts.
“Ensuring food premises are safe and legally compliant are important factors to support the thriving growth of the economy of the city.”