North Down

The Council was taking decisions on enforcement that were in accordance with its enforcement policy and centrally issued guidance. Although the level of formal enforcement action taken was low, the Council was adopting an appropriate graduated approach towards enforcement that ensured food businesses in the Council's area achieved compliance with required legal standards.

There was some variation between the level of record keeping of food hygiene and food standards activities. The records of food hygiene activities were, in general, comprehensive in nature and provided details of inspections and investigations, subsequent follow-up action and a history of actions taken to achieve compliance. The records of food standards activities were less comprehensive, however there was evidence that where instances of non-compliance were found appropriate action had been taken to ensure compliance was achieved.

The Council had recently introduced an internal monitoring procedure and there was evidence of some of the monitoring activities specified in that procedure being conducted. The monitoring included qualitative and quantitative measures relevant to food law enforcement.

The Council's scheme of delegated powers was not fully documented and there were errors and omissions in respect of the specified statutes for which powers had been delegated. This, together with deficiencies identified in the officers authorisations, could render the Service vulnerable to effective legal challenge.