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Business Committee Report – 1 December 2025

INFO 25/12/02 - Report from Timothy Riley

Last updated: 5 December 2025

The Business Committee met on 1 December and considered the following items.

1 Chief Executive’s Report (FSA BC 25/12/03)

Katie Pettifer delivered an update covering Incidents, Operations, the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) and People and Resources. She noted that there were no serious non-routine incidents ongoing that she needed to update the Committee about. The Proactive Resource for Incidents and Signals Management (PRISM) case management system was now fully operational, improving incident management. Work was ongoing on parasites in sheep lungs, with industry engagement on additional verification steps. She noted the £1m in-year funding for National Level Regulation (NLR) and that proposals for this work will come to the full Board in March. The implementation of the pay award, and the withdrawal of the home-working allowance was noted. This was Anjali Juneja’s last business committee meeting, and recruitment for a successor was underway.

2 Performance Report Q2 2025-26 (FSA BC 25/12/04)

Ian Gibson introduced the Performance Report and invited Directors to discuss various sections of the report.

Operational Delivery

Incident volumes remained high and complex, with surge capacity activated three times. Dairy audits fell behind due to absences, but recovery was on track for year-end. Raw milk sampling failures had been addressed promptly with enforcement and resampling. Enforcement trends dipped for the first time in six quarters but were improving. A review of thresholds for incidents was planned for Q1 2026.

Local Authority Delivery

Food hygiene interventions showed improvement across all risk categories, though medium and low-risk establishments remained below pre-pandemic levels. Unrated businesses were at their lowest since 2020, but resource pressures remained. Enforcement actions had also increased. Recruitment of new staff was evident, but it was noted that experience levels varied. Data accuracy issues linked to the Food Standards Delivery Model (FSDN) transition continued.

Market Authorisations of Regulated Products

Implementation of recent legislative reforms had reduced the caseload from 494 cases to 423. Precision breeding regulations were now in force, and applications were expected early in 2026. The Committee stressed the need for clearer reporting on delays, prioritisation, and delivery plans for innovative technologies to maintain confidence and meet government commitments.

The Committee also discussed Science, Trade and International, and Communications and Reputation.

3 Performance Management Framework for Food Standards Delivery Model (FSA BC 25/12/05)

Nathan Philippo presented this item and explained that local authority Food Standards teams had faced over a decade of declining resources, with staffing reduced by around 50% since 2012. The new Food Standards Delivery Model was being introduced to enable local authorities to make best use of their resources, but it would take considerable time for local authorities to meet acceptable delivery levels. The proposed framework set milestones for improvement, recognising that recovery would take time due to recruitment challenges and the scale of overdue inspections.

The Committee welcomed the risk-based model but noted mixed performance data and suggested exploring workforce initiatives such as apprenticeships. There were also questions around whether local authorities had the budgets to meet expectations. The use of statutory powers of direction was also raised. Nathan explained that while these did exist, they would be impractical given workforce shortages.

The Committee expressed concern around the pace of implementing the framework and resource constraints for local authorities but acknowledged the need to be realistic about the challenges. The Committee said they wanted to see progress as soon as possible with clear communication to local authorities, keeping the Committee informed to enable ongoing challenge.

The next meeting of the Business Committee would take place on 16 March 2026.