Leeds City Council is set to spend more than £570,000 a year on new food hygiene staff as it works to clear a growing backlog of food safety inspections. The authority plans to recruit 11 additional officers to its environmental health team after concerns were raised about delays in carrying out inspections of food businesses across the city.
A council report said the Food Standards Agency (FSA) had called for action after identifying a significant number of overdue inspections. The report stated: “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.”
Leeds currently carries out around 2,700 food business inspections each year. However, the council said it needs to complete approximately 4,500 inspections annually to fully comply with FSA requirements. An action plan has been put in place to clear the backlog over the next two years.
The report warned that continued failure to meet inspection requirements could result in further intervention from the Food Standards Agency. It stated: “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.”
Annual funding of £577,756 for the new roles was approved in March. According to the report, the recruitment drive will increase the size of the Food and Health team from 13 staff members to 24.
The council said ensuring food premises are safe and legally compliant is important both for public health and for supporting Leeds’ wider economy.
The report added: “Ensuring food premises are safe and legally compliant are important factors to support the thriving growth of the economy of the city.”
