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Summary Report – 18 June 2025 Business Committee Meeting
INFO 25/06/02 - Report by Timothy Riley
The Committee considered the following items:
Chief Executive’s (CE’s) Report to the Business Committee (FSA BC 25-06-03)
The CE mentioned Judicial Reviews from the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) and British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) regarding this year’s charge rates for the meat sector and potential outcomes of the Spending Review.
paper would go to the June Board meeting on glycerol in slushies, with the risk assessment suggesting a change in risk management advice. The Board's input would be sought before making risk management decisions with the aim of finalising the advice for consumers before the summer.
The Committee commended the National Food Crime Unit's (NFCU) pre-work on training officers to exercise their new powers and the CE confirmed she had closely reviewed the processes for authorising powers. The Committee emphasised the importance of financial investigations as a deterrent to food fraud and the CE confirmed that the NFCU did publicise successful prosecutions.
The Committee were assured that there was work ongoing with UK Health Security Agency, and internal reviews, to learn lessons about improving protocols and coordination with healthcare settings for handling Listeria outbreaks.
The Committee noted a disconnect between FSA and NHS 111 Wales advice on Hepatitis A and the Executive agreed to investigate and address the inconsistency.
The Committee received an update on the FSA London office move this summer. The Committee heard plans for a phased move-in of staff and an evaluation of the new space's effectiveness.
Regulation Action Plan Commitments (FSA BC 25-06-05)
David Holmes reported that the FSA was on track with the four commitments made in the Chancellor's Regulatory Action Plan, despite some risks. David highlighted the challenge of the government's target to reduce administrative burdens on businesses by 25% over the course of this Parliament. The FSA was engaging with the Department for Business and Trade and Treasury to discuss the methodology for baselining and measuring this target.
The Committee emphasised the importance of balancing regulatory responsibilities with supporting growth. The FSA's core responsibilities were to ensure food safety and standards, which were essential for consumer and business confidence, and ultimately supported growth. The Committee also focussed on having a clear plan for the delivery and representation of outputs to come back the Business Committee.
Performance Report for Q4 2024/25 (FSA BC 25-06-04)
The Committee noted the implementation of the new case management system, PRISM (Proactive Resource for Incidents and Signals Management) for Incidents which would improve interrogation of data. Darren Whitby explained the team had had a busy period with the non-routine listeria outbreak and the tail end of the peanut contamination in mustard incident.
Lexi Rees provided an update on Market Authorisations highlighting progress in applications exiting the service through strengthened quality measures and implementing the April 2025 reforms which will result in a reduced caseload. She mentioned the legal complexity of the ministerial determination document and plans to refine performance metrics. The Committee noted the progress reported and while recognising possible changes to market authorisation policy, it was important to maintain the focus on timescales and delivery and to advise on mitigating actions.
Nathan Barnhouse reported on the progress of Local Authorities transitioning to the new Food Standards Delivery Model (FSDM). He noted improvements in performance, ongoing efforts to address challenges with Management Information System providers, that we were monitoring local authority performance in delivering to the requirements of the FSDM, and that there was a performance management procedure in place for local authorities that did not meet these requirements. The Committee noted the performance management measures and probed deeper on the reasons on why a small number of Local Authorities were failing to engage. Regular updates on resolving this issue were important for the Committee to understand progress.
On Science the Committee recognised that measures were a work in progress and suggested including a Science metric on the Science Advisory Committees and the Science Council in the Performance Report which the Executive agreed to consider for future reporting.
In discussions on Trade and International, the Committee asked about the impact of a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement on updating the risk model and the work of Port Health Authorities. The Executive acknowledged the challenges and emphasised the need for clear communication and ongoing monitoring of risks during the negotiation period.