§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment has been made of the capacity of local authority environmental health departments to police adequately fast food restaurants and other food outlets; and if he will make a statement. [178256]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThere has been no recent assessment of the capacity of local authority environmental health departments to police fast food restaurants and other food outlets. Local authorities receive funding through the Revenue Support Grant, to enable them to undertake inspections to the full range of food premises. It is for each local authority to decide specific resource allocations to ensure that it has the capacity to undertake this work.
The Food Standards Agency monitors and audits the food law enforcement work of local authorities. This enables assessments to be made of individual local authority food law enforcement systems and activities, including whether food businesses are inspected in accordance with risk as required under statutory codes of practice.