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Response by the Cabinet Member: Thank you for your question regarding food hygiene ratings. I can confirm that there have been no changes to the scoring system applied when calculating the food hygiene rating score for a food business. The inspection programme for food hygiene was paused during the Covid-19 pandemic, whilst the Environmental Health Officers work was focussed on protecting care homes and the vulnerable across the County. A recovery plan is now underway in line with Food Standards Agency requirements. Unfortunately, Environmental Health Officers are witnessing a notable decline in standards in some businesses. This may be a result of the lack of recent intervention and support from the Environmental Health team. This situation appears to be consistent with what other local authorities are experiencing across Wales. Whilst Officers do provide support to business start-ups, through telephone contact and informative emails, staff recruitment and retention issues have resulted in the Environmental Health team being unable to deliver the non-statutory but still important bespoke food hygiene advice to businesses. That said, when carrying out routine inspections, Officers clearly outline the areas that the business have been scored down on and what they need to do to improve their rating as well as offering best practice advice. If there are specific concerns around premises in the Hay-on-Wye area that you wish to discuss further, please don’t hesitate in contacting the Principal Environmental Health Officer. Finally, I have asked that a briefing on the work of Environmental Health Officers is offered to all Members. The team would welcome this opportunity and a request to be included in the forward programme of member briefings has been made.
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