FSA 22-09-13 Performance and Resources report Quarter 1 2022 to 2023

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Our key deliverables:

• working with Food Standards Scotland we have launched ‘The Food Standards Annual Report’. The first in a series of reports due to be published annually, as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency and so that key stakeholders, remain aware of the changes and challenges to our food system.​
• we have established a new regulatory services function to reduce delays and meet statutory service deadlines in considering regulated products applications. We have also scoped an external review of the novel foods regulatory framework and are due to launch an invitation to tender in September 2022.​
• as part of our risk analysis process and regulated products service we have revoked the Fukushima regulations with all associated controls removed and published the CBD list with preparations underway to issue a consultation on amendments to the Retained EU Law for edible insects.​
• for the Priority Programmes ABC and Operational Transformation, we have secured 5 partnerships to progress to trial stage following a successful event with 10 Large Retailers. Established a review of the concept and content of the ‘big 3’ food aggregator platform’s Food Safety Charter as part of our online assurance for ABC. We have also undertaken 34 audits since the segmentation pilot launched in June 2022​
• in evolving our capability and capacity, we have successfully completed all our key deliverables for the quarter which included phase 1 of the Governance review. ​

77% trust the FSA (+2% increase) out of those that have some knowledge about the FSA, to ensure food is safe and what it says it is. 

92% are confident (+2% increase) that the food they buy is safe to eat.

86% are confident (+3% increase) the information on food labels is accurate.

51,100 unrated businesses as at 31 March 2022, 26,000 fewer than 31 March 2021. 

1 Local Authority escalated through the escalation process. 

£0.4 million 2002 to 2023 total underspend to date. 

315 + individuals joined the FSA over a 12 month period from June 2021 to June 2022.

82% full meat audit completion (0% points higher than quarter 4)

98.9% (increase of 0.02 points from quarter 4) meat food business owner premises rated 'Good' or 'Generally satisfactory'.

28 food crime successes including 2 case file submitted for consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service. 

96.4% interventions achieved at category-A rated establishments for hygiene as at 31 March 2022, slightly below our target of 100%.

80.3% interventions achieved at category-B rated establishments for hygiene as at 31 March 2022 (target of 100% by 30 June 2022).​

Key successes in the quarter

• Public attitudes: Results from our latest Food and You 2 survey indicate that trust in the FSA (77%), confidence that food is safe to eat (92%) and confidence that information on food labelled is accurate (86%) remain high.
• Building our reputation as an evidence generator: The Food Standards Annual Report launch saw widespread national coverage with 3 launch events involving 83 external stakeholders
• Handling major incidents: the high-profile recall of Kinder chocolate and the advice on Sunflower oil substitutions generated widespread coverage across both mainstream and social media.
• Increasing our profile: Chair’s consumer stakeholder forum and other cross-government engagement resulted in better engagement and advocacy (for example, household food insecurity). Growth of stakeholder channels (↑342% in CEO/Chair stakeholder bulletin subscribers to 3,588)​

Concerns/Risks

• achieving profile and traction on marketing, media and stakeholder communication is becoming increasingly challenging with public and media interest in food more focussed on cost of living and supply chain issues
• overall decline in public trust in government, institutions and the food industry may have an impact on our future trust scores
• increasing scale of incidents puts pressure on communication resources making it more challenging to ensure we communicate risk effectively
• need to continue to improve cross-FSA capability on systematic and meaningful stakeholder engagement.​

Next steps

• continue to look for proactive opportunities to make the FSA voice heard in the media, through marketing channels, on social media and with our stakeholders, with a particular focus on reflecting public concerns around food affordability.​

Out of those who have some knowledge of the FSA:

• 77% trust the FSA to ensure food is safe and what it says it is (over our ambition of 75%)
• 92% are confident that the food they buy is safe to eat (over our ambition of 86%)
• 86% are confident that the information on food labels is accurate (level with our ambition of 86%).

Consumer awareness, knowledge and trust in the FSA

Consumer confidence in food safety and authenticity

Key successes in the quarter

Overall FBO compliance with food safety, hygiene and animal welfare regulations (based on most recent audit score) is stable at the end of quarter 1 with 98.9% rated ‘Good’ or ‘Generally Satisfactory’. 

Concerns/risks

The 8% shortfall of audits completed in Q1 is related to higher volumes of both scheduled audits and partial (follow-up audits). The scheduling of audits is aligned to FBO compliance and the volumes vary per quarter across all regions. Audits are prioritised and all partial audits, as well as full audits of FBOs in the lower compliance categories, are completed to schedule.

An increase in post-Covid/EU-Exit inward missions (export audits) has had to take precedence and is currently requiring additional veterinary auditor resource and difficulties in recruiting into veterinary auditor vacancies has provided additional challenges in meeting audit completion targets.

Next steps

Business case to be finalised for additional export/import audit resource to address increased volume of activity and ongoing recruitment campaigns are underway to fill vacancies in both domestic and international trade audit teams. These activities aim to address the shortfall in audit completion rates.

• 82% (0% points higher than quarter 4) full audit completion, quarter 1 2022 to 2023 focused on overdue high risk audits
• 98.9% (0.2% points from Quarter 4) Meat FBO premises rated 'Good' or 'Generally satisfactory'. 

Volume of meat FBOs rated

• Good: 62.1% (increase of 25 ratings)
• Generally satisfactory: 36.8% (decrease of 19 ratings)
• Improvement necessary: 0.9% (increase of 2 ratings)
• Urgent improvement necessary: 10.2% (decrease of 2 ratings)

Full audit completion against target for England Wales

LA delivery is a complex landscape, with competing priorities in term of risk-based delivery, and a single statistic cannot be seen in isolation as representative of ‘good progress’. 

Slides 6-8 are designed to help explain the various data sets that our Regulatory Compliance Division use to monitor LA delivery.

Performance is considered against the requirements of the LA Recovery Plan, agreed by the FSA Board in May 2021, in relation to getting back on track with carrying out interventions according to the frequencies outlined in the Food Law Code of Practice and prioritising and inspecting new businesses. However, other factors will require LAs to carry out reactive work, meaning we expect to see interventions taking place at establishments that have not been prioritised so far in the recovery plan. 

• Figure 1 and 2 provide a view of the performance of the LA system as a whole, and then using close to live data of activities of a subset of establishments, respectively. 
• Figure 3 and 4 provide information to highlight the potential level of unknown risk in the system and then, the activities by LAs aimed at managing those risks, respectively. 
• Figure 5 summarises the performance management activities the FSA is undertaking with LAs that have shown some cause for concern.

Local authority recovery plan

• ongoing specific legal requirements, surveillance, enforcement and urgent reactive work
• new and refreshed food hygiene ratings given following appropriate interventions
• FHRS re-visits requested by businesses - in line with timescales in Brand Standards/relevant statutory guidance.

Recovery plan progress - current RAG status

Local authority performance

Is this system as a whole targeting the risks?

• the recovery plan requires all establishments rated A and B for hygiene to have received an inspection by 31 March 2022 and 31 June 2022 respectively
• there has been a positive improvement in the system following a sharp drop in delivery in 2020/21, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic
• the number of interventions achieved at establishments rated-A  increased by 155% from 1,236 in 2020/21 to 3,153 in 2021/22 and for establishments rated B by 73% from 8,786 to 15,195
• LAs have followed the requirement to carry out inspections at the higher risk A-rated establishments and where possible have started to tackle B-rated establishments.  

Figure 1 Total planned interventions achieved at A-rated and B-rated establishments*

*This data has been collected annually.  Data for 2018/19 and 2019/20 are typical years and provide a comparison with performance during the pandemic.

How are LAs delivering when we look a sub-set of establishment types?

• the analysis of FHRS data for ‘retailers' and ‘restaurants and caterers' allows us to look at LA delivery using close to live data
• reassuringly, within this subset of establishments, we are seeing LA service delivery increasingly coming into line with pre-pandemic levels.

Figure 2: All interventions achieved at retailers, restaurants and caterers

Local authority performance and FSA oversight

How are LAs managing new businesses and is there an increase in the level of unknown risk entering the system?

• the number of new businesses changes over time as new registrations come in and interventions of previously unrated businesses take place
• LAs reported 91,400 new registrations during 2021/22, but some businesses closed before receiving an inspection or never opened
• the number of unrated businesses has decreased as at March 2022, after the sharp increase reported in March 2021
• number of new businesses that need to be prioritised for inspection is decreasing, suggesting an improvement in the management of unknown risk in the system but there has been a small increase in businesses prioritised as high risk awaiting inspection since April. This is possibly due to LAs also dealing with other high risk businesses now due an inspection.

Figure 3 Number of unrated businesses on 31 March each year*

Figure 4 Prioritisation of new businesses (requirement since October 2021**)

*Data collected annually. We aim to ask for this in future temperature check surveys. 2018/19 and 2019/20 data are typical years to provide a comparison with pre-pandemic figures.
**July 2022 data covers Q1.

Status of LA engagement

• 28 cases remain open, from the end of year return (April 2022), where assurance has yet to be given that the Recovery Plan will be met or where an action plan is being monitored. This includes one LA escalated to Stage 2 of the agreed process for both food hygiene and standards. An action plan is in process of being implemented
• from the July 2022 temperature check survey covering Q1 2022/23, 45 LAs have been engaged with to clarify their position and challenge and support delivery of the Plan requirements
• since October 2021, we have closed 168 cases following engagement with LAs.

Figure 5 Status of LA engagement

The Performance Management assessment process aims to identify LAs of high or medium concern of not being able to deliver the Plan for food hygiene or food standards. However, intelligence has led to some engagement activity with those of low concern, and Wales and Northern Ireland routinely engage with all their LAs.
 

Key successes in the quarter

Following the National Food Crime Unit’s first end-to-end prosecution last year, the suspect (who was sentenced to 28 months imprisonment for supplying DNP and other illegal substances) has been subjected to Confiscation Order proceedings in this quarter where his total benefit is assessed at around £180,000 and realisable assets assessed at around £23,000.

We have significantly supported an LA-led investigation where four defendants have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud offences related to the diversion of animal by products back into the human food chain.

Concerns/risks

As a consequence of changes at the beginning of 2022 to 2023 to the priority food crime areas we are looking to address our intel collection aligned to our Control Strategy slightly reduced to 54%. We are looking to moderately increase this proportion. Alignment between operational activity and priorities is 62%.

Next steps

Continue to deliver against 11 current investigations at various stages in their lifecycles, and to enact 4P plans (Pursue, Protect, Prevent, Prepare) against our agreed strategic priorities.

Alongside Food Standards Scotland, work on our next Food Crime Strategic Assessment to enrich our understanding of threats. 
 

Highlighted food crime successes in Quarter 1:

• 2 suspects arrested and interviewed
• 1 case file submitted for consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service
• 4 suspects charged
• 1 seizure of 36 tubs of 2.4 dinitrophenol (DNP)
• 1 warrant executed

Food crime intelligence reports by control strategy priority in quarter 1 2022 to 2023

337 reports recorded (decrease of 76 from rolling 12 month average of 416) of which:

• 26% red meat pork/beef/lamb/mixed
• 11% diversion of animal-by-products
• 9% dangerous non-foods
• 8% shellfish
• 46% outside of NFCU Control Strategy

Quarterly disruptions and outcomes

• 20 disruptions (increase of 6 from Quarter 4 2021 to 2022)
• 8 outcomes (decrease of 10 from Quarter 4 2021 to 2022)

• established a new regulatory services function and begun work on the development of a new application system
• scoped an external review of the novel foods regulatory framework with an invitation to tender due to be launched in September

Key successes in the quarter

• as part of our work to reduce delays and meet statutory deadlines for regulated product applications, a new regulatory services function has been established and work has begun on developing a new application system to replace the current portal. We expect the new system will reduce some administrative tasks and improve information available to applicants
• an external review of the novel foods regulatory framework has been scoped and an invitation to tender is due to be launched in September, with the aim of providing a range of options to develop a transparent and effective regulatory system that is the best in the world for innovators, investors and consumers whilst protecting consumer interests and maintaining food standards
• novel Foods and Radiological Policy: The Fukushima regulations have now been revoked and all associated controls removed
• the CBD list has been closed and published and we are preparing to issue a consultation on amendments to the Retained EU Law (REUL) requirements for edible insects which will clarify the GB requirements
• we have undertaken a stakeholder workshop on alternative proteins in July 2022.

Any concerns/risks

• potential delay to delivery of regulatory reform objectives and regulated product approvals in line with statutory requirements, due to difficulty recruiting to fully staff the new regulatory services function. The risk is being mitigated through engagement of temporary resource cover.

Next steps

• we plan to test the new regulated product application system with a range of users from October.  Subject to the feedback we receive and further development of the system, the new application system will go live before the end of the year
• there is scope within regulated product authorisations for regulatory reform to consolidate and simplify the numerous steps in engagement between officials and Ministers across the UK governments. A reform programme across the regulated product regimes is being designed to plan future activities in this area
• continue to contribute to the development of a new regulatory framework for precision bred food and feed in England. The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill, led by Defra, is being progressed through Parliament.

*We have developed performance measures for our regulated products service which are included in quarterly reporting to the FSA Board’s Business Committee. This will form part of future Performance & Resources reports from Q1 2023/24.  
 

• 5 partnerships secured for progression to trial stage following successful event with 10 large retailers
• established a review of the concept and content of the 'big 3' food aggregator platform's Food Safety Charter
• Food Standards pilot final evaluation is underway
• undertaken successful Food Hygiene LA engagement through a well-attended webinar with over 490 attendees

Key successes in the quarter

• Enterprise level regulation: Following a successful event with 10 Large Retailers and their Primary Authority Partners, project has secured 5 partnerships to progress to trial stage. Relationships with these businesses are adding value to the FSA for example, the ability to quickly generate insight as part of our review into options to address Household Food Insecurity. 
• Online assurance: We have made positive progress with the ‘big 3’ food aggregator platforms, in the development of their proposed Food Safety Charter by establishing a review of its concept and content, with a view to publicly acknowledging the collaboration and progress in quarter 2. The programme has commenced a discovery project looking into what further support LAs require when regulating businesses operating online. 
• Food standards pilots: Following completion of the England and Northern Ireland pilots on 31 March 2022, final evaluation is underway.
• Food hygiene: The headline policy approach and evaluation has been agreed, enabling the project to progress. We have also undertaken successful, early LA engagement through a well-attended webinar which has helped to generate a robust questions and answers. 

Any concerns/risks

• Food standards: Project resource was affected (through the need to prioritise our response to the sunflower oil shortage) which could risk a delay to Food Law Code of Practice changes being submitted, and LA Consultation commencing in Q3 as planned. Mitigation in place should prevent adverse effects on overall delivery. 

Next steps

• Enterprise level: Continued activity to develop the Large Retailer Proof of Concept trial, which is due to commence in Q3. Discovery into other business sectors who may be suitable for new regulatory approaches has re-commenced to further develop this workstream.
• Online assurance aggregator charter: Continued development of a framework to establish how additional online operator relationships may be managed in future
• Food standards: Evaluation and scalability report will be reviewed by ABC programme board and take a decision on whether to roll out the new model in England through 2023/24.
• Food hygiene delivery review: Project will have completed informal consultation with local authorities on the headline policy approach.

• legislative strategy team have completed recommendations for legislative success
• 34 audits undertaken from segmentation pilot launched in June 2022
• 14 remove audits taken place and are exploring other options to utilise the technology
• RAS phase one completed after unsuccessful trials
• digital approvals case management system launched

Key successes in the quarter

• Legislation: The Legislative strategy team have completed their recommendations for legislative success. They have mapped the correct process to follow for any legislative changes, including communication routes for Devolved Administrations
• Segmentation: 34 audits undertaken during Q1 to determine audit frequency since pilot launched in June 2022 with latest figures as at 19 August 2022 at 100 audits. The pilot has uncovered some emerging issues with the functionality and outputs from the model
• Remote audits (RA): 14 remote audits have taken place and are exploring other options to utilise the technology. The Librestream contract has been extended until September 2022 to cover RA technology while procurement is ongoing
• Resource Allocation System (RAS): Phase one has been completed after unsuccessful trials. A Microsoft teams solution was utilised and successfully meets all requirements
• Digital approvals: The case management system was launched in May 2022 and plan to complete an evaluation in September 2022 where a full benefit and lessons learnt session will be updated.

Any concerns/risks

• implementation of remote audits and process frameworks is behind schedule. Further resources are required for the next stages of the legislative strategy which could cause delays in the next stages for remote audits. 

Next steps

• Segmentation: To develop our risk segmentation strategy we have decided to re-assess and reconfigure the model through ongoing evaluation and iterations of the pilot
• RAS: Wider phases of RAS will be linked to the new HR system once developed and it is likely that requirements would be satisfied by this system. Work is planned to start in 2023/24
• to review roles and responsibilities in the official controls team and the inspection tasks that could be delegated to FBOs. The digital audit and inspection work should continue following issues with conflicting priorities and lack of available resource
• the wine Case Management System work has begun and updates will be available in the next quarter update. 

• all key deliverables in the quarter successfully completed
• Phase 1 of the Governance review completed
• overprogramming has naturally fallen out reducing the need for reprioritisation of our corporate priorities during quarter 1.

Key successes in the quarter

• key deliverables in the quarter have been successfully completed
• phase 1 of our internal governance review has been completed, subject to review.  This review considered the internal executive-level governance for decision-making within the FSA
• reprioritising corporate priorities due to financial pressures was not required during quarter 1 as over-programming is reducing
• received recommendations from external consultants for how to set up regulated products as an exemplar service, including ‘service templates’
• we put advice to our Executive Management Team on a portfolio approach to managing our internal and external change work, which was accepted.

Concerns/risks

• additional work has emerged for the FSA during quarter 1, including the Civil Service 2025 headcount commission, the Precision Breeding Bill and the need to work with government partners on a target operating model for import controls in the Autumn which may require reprioritisation in subsequent quarters.  An incoming Prime Minister may also have new priorities which impact on the FSA’s workplan
• the Headcount Commission has caused delays to the launch of the ‘People Plan’, which is now expected in quarter 4, and the activity to establish long-term embedding of the strategy and developing further proposals for FSA work on ‘Healthier and more Sustainable’ food.  This should be rectified as part of the multi year corporate plan being developed

Next steps

• further work required to define the scope and successful delivery of our this corporate priority, particular due to prioritisation exercise.
   

Key successes

• 426 campaigns (incl. expression of interests) in last 12-months, 315 new joiners to FSA (excluding internal moves)
• 100% of our Senior Civil Servants (SCS) vacancies filled first time round, with reserves
• 64% of our SCS are located outside of London and the South-East. 34% higher than across CS (Institute for Government, 2022)
• 11.1% Attrition (all leavers, annualised by quarter), 1% increase since end June 2021. Across the CS, between March 2021 and March 2022, 13.6% of workforce has either left the CS or moved Departments (Institute for Government, 2022).

Concerns/risks

• 34.1%* (46 of 135) of leavers left within 2 years of joining. Of these, 50% (23 of 46) were in 16-29 age bracket (including a small number of fast streamers)(44% resigned, 52% transferred to OGD). We have also had some anecdotal evidence that a significant factor is pay and promotion opportunities
• 12% of staff recruited (last 12-months) are contractually linked to the London office whilst our future footprint is yet to be agreed
• 49.5% of the field operations workforce are age 55 and over, increasing the potential for higher absence, retirement and encouragement to stay on. 

Next steps

• posts advertised with links to the London Office will be subject to a business case
• latest pay policy allows adverts to include full salary range for difficult to fill roles
• introduction In September 2022 of an online exit questionnaire will provide further detail on leaving reasons.

For the 12-month period to 30 June 2022

• 315+ individuals joined the FSA over a 12-month period
• 40.7%* of leavers left on an OGD transfer. Since 1 November 2021, (when more detailed tracking began), 48.4% of these left on promotion and 45.2% on level transfer. 

*excludes career break, end of casual/fixed term appointments and loans out. 

% gross attrition (leavers) annualised by quarter

% leaving reasons* for the 12-month period to 30 June 2022

Key successes in the quarter

• improving the forecasting and supporting directors to deliver the new Strategy
• quarterly director meetings providing additional insight to align business plans to the budget
• of the +226 forecast FTE, 81 are in the later stages of recruitment or an offer has been made and 111 are in the early stages.

Concerns/risks

• need to avoid large underspend alongside recruitment delays due to the headcount commission. Westminster is forecasting an overspend as we aim to fulfil as many of our SR21 plans as we can, but we expect this to reduce in the coming months
• forecast underspend of £1.7 million on Shared Outcomes Funding (SOF) is from ring-fenced funding and cannot be reallocated to other directorates. As lead partner on the programme, the FSA must also ensure that other partners are managing their budgets effectively. The whole programme is currently forecasting to spend £7 million of its £9 million budget in 2022 to 2023
• Northern Ireland funding is ringfenced and any unused funds will be returned to HM Treasury (HMT)
• ambitious recruitment planned for the last quarter means that 34 of the +226 forecast FTE may move into 2023/24

Next steps

• 2021/22 Annual Report & Accounts planned to be laid in Parliament in November 2022
• Further analysis needed on committed/uncommitted spend in the forecast to minimise underspend
• Medium term financial planning in September and October resulting in decision making for the Supplementary Estimate in November
• Development of the Charging Strategy and planning for 2023 to 2024 charges to begin in quarter 3

Key figures:

• £0.4 million 2022 to 2023 year to date forecast underspend
• £0.2 million priority programme forecast year to date underspend
• 151 + actual Net FSA FTE from quarter 1 2021 to 2022 to quarter 1 2022 to 2023
• 226+ forecast NET FSA FTE from June 2022 to March 2023.

Finances- how we are forecasting to spend our funds in 2022 to 2023

FSA DEL £146.1 million

• Risk assessment and other science: £19.8 million
• Operations excluding NFCU: £29.4 million
• National Food Crime Unit: £5.4 million
• Enabling functions and devolved government: £57.5 million - Northern Ireland £14.6 million, Data/digital £11.1 million, corporate £26.9 million, Wales 4.9 million. 
• Capital: £3.5 million
• Key priorities: £4.6 million
• Surveillance: £1.9 million
• Local Authority support and delivery of official controls: £11 million
• Shared Outcomes Fund: £1.9 million
• International and UK Affairs: £2.2 million
• Risk managements and other policy: £8.9 million