1. Annual report on UK local authority
food law enforcement
1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015
Data summary - Wales

2. TABLE OF CONTENT
1. Introduction .....................................................................................................................1
2. Summary of key findings.............................................................................................2
3. Establishment profiles .................................................................................................4
Establishments ‘Not Yet Rated’.........................................................................................6
4. Local authority interventions .....................................................................................7
Food hygiene interventions ................................................................................................7
Food standards interventions ............................................................................................8
5. Enforcement actions.................................................................................................. 10
Food hygiene enforcement actions ............................................................................... 10
Food standards enforcement actions ............................................................................ 12
6. Official samples........................................................................................................... 14
7. Consumer complaints about food and food establishments ......................... 16
8. Full time equivalent (FTE) professional staff ...................................................... 17
Food hygiene professional staff ..................................................................................... 17
Food standards professional staff.................................................................................. 17
9. Food hygiene compliance........................................................................................ 18
Glossary……………………………………………..…………..……………………...…19

3. 1
1. Introduction
1.1 The Food Standard Agency (FSA) is responsible for monitoring and reporting
on the performance of local authority (LA) food law enforcement services.
Data are collected annually from LAs on food law enforcement activity with
food businesses in the UK. The data are reported as Official Statistics. The
Official Statistics for the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 (2014/15)
comprise the data in this report. This report and individual LA data, as well as
data for previous years, are published here.
1.2 The arrangements for monitoring LA performance are set out in the
‘Framework Agreement on the Delivery of Official Feed and Food Controls by
Local Authorities’.1 Data are collected electronically from LAs and Port Health
Authorities (PHAs) using a web-based system: the Local Authority
Enforcement Monitoring System (LAEMS). LAs that have used the UK Food
Surveillance System (UKFSS) to record details of samples taken for the whole
of the 2014/15 reporting year have the option to use UKFSS data for the
sample part of their LAEMS return.2
1.3 LAs provide returns for food hygiene and food standards. The data on food
hygiene cover interventions, premises risk ratings, complaints about food and
food establishments, sampling, and enforcement activities. The data on food
standards cover similar subjects and complaints in relation to composition,
chemical contamination, adulteration and labelling of food.
1.4 A summary of the key findings for the returns made in 2014/15 is provided at
Section 2.
1.5 Sections 3 to 10 provide key data from those returns, together with
comparative data from 2012/13 and 2013/14 and analysis of key trends and
variations.
1 See www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/multimedia/pdfs/enforcement/frameworkagreementno5.pdf
2 Further information on UKFSS may be found at www.food.gov.uk/enforcement/sampling/fss

4. 2
2. Summaryof key findings
2.1 The key findings from the LAEMS data reported by LAs in Wales for 2014/15
and comparisons with data reported for 2013/14 are set out below.
Food establishments
 Numbers of registered businesses increased by 1.6% from 33,840 to
34,380.
▲
 Proportion of registered businesses not yet rated for food hygiene
risk3 decreased from 3.0% (1,015) to 2.3% (780).
▼
Interventions
 Food hygiene interventions decreased by 6.1% from 30,689 to
28,802. This compared with a 1.8% decrease across the rest of the UK.
▼
 Food standards interventions increased by 6.4% from 10,548 to
11,220. This compared with an increase of 3.7% across the rest of the
UK.
▲
 Targeting of interventions has continued to be at higher risk
establishments for food hygiene.
-
Enforcement actions
 Total number of enforcement actions increased by 1.6% from 14,539
to 14,775.4
▲
 Seizure, detention and surrender of food decreased by 20.3% from
64 to 51.
▼
 Remedial action and detention notices increased by 4.1% from 49 to
51.
▲
 Simple cautions decreased by 54.3% from 94 to 43. ▼
 Prosecutions increased by 81.2% from 33 to 60. This compared with a
decrease of 19.5% across the rest of the UK.
▲
 Written warnings increased by 3.3% from 13,886 to 14,348. ▲
 Voluntary closure decreased by 32.3% from 93 to 63. ▼
 Emergency prohibition notices increased by 100% from 2 to 4. ▲
 Improvement notices (food hygiene) decreased by 34.5% from 316 to
207.
▼
 Prohibition orders increased by 50% from 2 to 3. ▲
3 Not yet rated (NYR) – those establishments yet to be inspected by the LA and assessed for an
intervention rating.
4 LAEMS records the number of establishments subjected to the individual types of enforcement
action. The total number of individual enforcement actions taken by LAs is likely to be higher.

5. 3
Official samples
 Total reported samples decreased by 23.6% to 6,676 from 8,736 in
2013/14 (this continues an overall decline since 2010/11, with the
exception of 2013/14 when there was an increase, which may have
reflected increased activity in monitoring fraud following the horsemeat
incident). This decrease was also reflected in the rest of the UK where
there was a 7.5% decrease in total reported samples.
▼
 Samples tested for microbiological contamination decreased by
24.6% from 6,129 to 4,623.
▼
 Samples tested for other contamination decreased by 15.5% from 550
to 465.
▼
 Labelling and presentation analyses decreased by 43.1% from 1,046
to 595.
▼
 Samples tested for composition decreased by 27% from 2,051 to
1,497
▼
 Other analyses decreased by 21.6% from 51 to 40. ▼
 There were also 200 unclassified samples in the 2014/15 data, which
covers samples recorded on UKFSS where it was not possible to
identify the analysis type for LAEMS.
-
Consumer complaints
 Complaints about the safety and quality of food and the hygiene
standards of food establishments decreased by 8.2% from 3,928 to
3,607. This was in contrast with the rest of the UK where complaints
increased by 3.5%.
▼
Professional staff resources
 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) professional staff engaged in UK food
law enforcement decreased by 9.3% from 216 to 196. The decrease
across the rest of the UK was 3.4%
▼
 FTE professional staff engaged in food hygiene decreased by 9.0%
from 167 to 152. The decrease across the rest of the UK was 1.0%.
▼
 FTE professional staff engaged in food standards decreased by
10.2% from 49 to 44. The decrease across the rest of the UK was
11.0%.
▼
Hygiene compliance
 Proportion of rated establishments achieving ‘broad compliance’
increased from 91.8% to 94.3%.5
▲
5 LAs assess compliance in accordance with statutory guidance set out in the Food Law Codes of
Practice for Wales at http://www.food.gov.uk/wales/regswales/regsguid_wales/codepracticewales
Scores are given for three compliance criteria: hygiene; structure; and confidence in management.
Businesses that score not more than 10 under each of these three criteria are defined as ‘broadly
compliant’. This is equivalent food hygiene ratings of 3 to 5 under the Food Hygiene Rating
Scheme operating in Wales.

6. 4
3. Establishmentprofiles
3.1 A total of 34,380 food establishments were registered with LAs in Wales at
31 March 2015.
Figure 3.1: Wales registered food establishments profile for 2014/15 by food
hygiene risk and premises type
Risk
category
Primary
producers
Manufacturers
& Packers
Importers/
Exporters
Distributors/
Transporters
Retailers
Restaurants
& Caterers
Total
A 0 23 0 1 20 106 150
B 10 147 0 3 142 1,230 1,532
C 16 317 2 36 1,410 11,068 12,849
D 35 156 2 75 1,296 4,346 5,910
E 222 356 8 291 4,286 7,162 12,325
Unrated 7 33 0 14 170 556 780
Outside6 54 30 0 6 299 445 834
Total 344 1,062 12 426 7,623 24,913 34,380
3.2 The total number of registered food establishments increased by 1.6%
compared with 2013/14 (33,840 establishments). This increase was only
reflected in two establishment types. These were:
 Retailers - a 1.9% increase in premises (from 7,483 to 7,623)
 Restaurants and caterers - a 1.7% increase in premises (from 24,498 to
24,913)
3.3 There was a decrease of 2.6% in the number of distributors/transporters from
437 in 2013/14 to 426.
3.4 The increase in the number of food establishments in Wales was also
reflected in the rest of the UK where there was a 0.8% increase from 2013/14.
6 Outside – those establishments assessed by LAs to be of such low risk as to not be included in the
intervention programme e.g. coffee/refreshments served in betting shops/hairdressers.

7. 5
3.4 A comparison of the intervention ratings of food establishments7 indicates a
reduction of 5.4% in premises rated A to C (from 15,357 in 2013/14 to
14,531), and an increase of 7.9% in premises rated D and E (from 16,894 in
2013/14 to 18,235).
7 The system that LAs use to risk rate food establishments is set out in the Food Law Codes of
Practice for Wales http://www.food.gov.uk/wales/regswales/regsguid_wales/codepracticewales
375
1,066
14
435
7,685
24,342
346
1,063
13
437
7,483
24,498
344
1,062
12
426
7,623
24,913
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
Primary producers
Manufacturers and Packers
Importers/Exporters
Distributors/Transporters
Retailers
Restaurants and Caterers
Number of registered food establishments
Typeoffoodestablishment
Figure 3.2: Comparison of registered food establishments in
Wales by type of establishment from 2012/13
2014/15
2013/14
2012/13
A B C D E NYR Outside
2012/13 277 2,431 13,165 5,491 10,434 1,358 761
2013/14 170 1,910 13,277 5,626 11,268 1,015 574
2014/15 150 1,532 12,849 5,910 12,325 780 834
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
Numberofregisteredfood
establishments
Figure 3.4: Comparison of food establishments profiles in Wales
by food hygiene risk rating from 2012/13
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15

8. 6
3.5 The largest decrease is in premises rated B and C and the largest increase
was in premises rated D and E. It should also be noted that the shift from A-C
to D-E rated premises is a continuing trend which reflects the increasing
compliance levels discussed further in Section 9.
Establishments ‘Not Yet Rated’ for food hygiene
3.6 In Wales, 2.3% of registered food establishments were not yet rated (NYR) for
food hygiene risk at 31 March 2015 (780 out of 34,380). This is an
improvement on the 2013/14 level of 3.0% and continues the downward trend
since 2012/13. It should be noted that LAs in Wales have the lowest
proportion of NYR establishments in the UK (2.3%), reflecting their efforts to
afford these some priority (England 4.9%, Scotland 7.7% and Northern Ireland
4.7%).
Figure 3.6: Comparison of percentage of registered establishments
NYR for food hygiene from 2012/13
2012/13 2013/14 2014/15
Total number of establishments 33,917 33,840 34,380
Number of NYR establishments 1,358 1,015 780
Percentage NYR:
Wales 4.0% 3.0% 2.3%
Rest of the UK 6.0% 5.7% 5.1%

9. 7
4. Local authority interventions
Food hygiene interventions
4.1 A total of 28,802 food hygiene interventions were reported in 2014/15, a
decrease of 6.1% on the reported number carried out in 2013/14 (30,689).
This compared with a 1.8% decrease across the rest of the UK.
Figure 4.1: Food hygiene interventions carried out in Wales in 2014/15
Inspections
and audits
Verification
and
surveillance
Sampling
visits
Advice and
education
Information/
intelligence
gathering
Total
Wales 17,630 5,851 2,003 2,025 1,293 28,802
Rest of
the UK
243,135 67,287 14,251 23,069 25,931 373,673
Intervention types as a % of total food hygiene interventions
Wales 61.2% 20.3% 7.0% 7.0% 4.5% 100.0%
Rest of
the UK
65.1% 18.0% 3.8% 6.2% 6.9% 100.0%
4.2 Inspections and audits remain the most frequent food hygiene intervention
type (61.2% compared with 59.7% in 2013/14). The levels of sampling visits
(7.0%) and advice and education visits (7.0%) have reduced slightly from
2013/14. However, there was a slight increase in verification and surveillance
(20.3%) visits and information and intelligence gathering visits (4.5%) from
2013/14.
60.6%
22.9%
6.0%
7.0%
3.4%
59.7%
19.0%
7.5%
9.5%
4.3%
61.2%
20.3%
7.0%
7.0%
4.5%
0% 20% 40% 60%
Inspections and audits
Verification and surveillance
Sampling visits
Advice and education
Information/intelligence gathering
Percentage of total interventions
Typeofintervention
Figure 4.2: Comparison of split between types of food hygiene
interventions carried out in Wales from 2012/13
2014/15
2013/14
2012/13

10. 8
Food standards interventions
4.3 Reported numbers of food standards interventions have continued to
increase, with a total of 11,220 interventions carried out in 2014/15, an
increase of 6.4% on the reported number carried out in 2013/14 (10,548). This
compared with an increase of 3.7% across the rest of the UK.
Figure 4.3: Food standards interventions carried out in Wales in 2014/15
Inspections
and audits
Verification
and
surveillance
Sampling
visits
Advice and
education
Information/
intelligence
gathering
Total
Wales 8,843 548 640 735 454 11,220
Rest of
the UK
70,319 10,368 8,229 10,454 7,287 106,657
Intervention types as a % of total food standards interventions
Wales 78.8% 4.9% 5.7% 6.6% 4.0% 100.0%
Rest of
the UK
65.9% 9.7% 7.8% 9.8% 6.8% 100.0%
4.4 As in previous years, inspections and audits were the most prevalent food
standards intervention type. Despite the fact that the numbers of interventions
increased in each category from 2013/14, there was a slight percentage
reduction in sampling visits and verification and surveillance visits.
78.3%
7.5%
7.6%
5.3%
1.4%
81.4%
5.0%
8.1%
4.2%
1.4%
78.8%
4.9%
5.7%
6.6%
4.0%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Inspections and audits
Verification and surveillance
Sampling visits
Advice and education
Information/intelligence gathering
Percentage of total interventions
Typeofintervention
Figure 4.4: Comparison of split between types of food standards
interventions carried out in Wales from 2012/13
2014/15
2013/14
2012/13

11. 9
4.5 There was an increase in advice and education visits from 439 to 735 from
2013/14. As described in the UK annual report on local authority food law
enforcement, this coincides with the coming into force in December 2014 of
provisions in the EU Food Information for Consumers regulations that require
all food businesses to declare any of 14 identified allergenic ingredients used
in non-prepacked or loose foods that are sold or provided.

12. 10
5. Enforcement actions
Food hygiene enforcement actions
5.1 The total number of establishments in Wales subject to food hygiene
enforcement actions in 2014/15 was 13,3678,9.
Figure 5.1: Number of establishments subject to food hygiene
enforcement actions in Wales in 2014/15
Type of enforcement action Wales Rest of the UK
Voluntary Closure 63 1,031
Seizure, detention and surrender of food 45 371
Suspension or revocation of approval or
license
1 25
Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice 4 317
Prohibition Order 3 106
Simple caution 17 218
Improvement Notice 207 4,159
Remedial Action and Detention Notices10 51 229
Written warnings 12,940 147,265
Prosecutions concluded 36 250
Totals 13,367 153,971
5.2 There were 12,940 establishments issued with written warnings and 427 were
subject to formal enforcement action. This is a decrease of 0.4% from
2013/14 (13,418), although prosecutions and Remedial Action and Detention
Notices showed slight increases (see Figure 5.2).
8 LAEMS records the number of establishments subject to the individual types of enforcement action.
The total number of individual enforcement actions taken by LAs is likely to be higher.
9 The figures in this section may include enforcement actions at premises that have subsequently
closed.
10 From 1 May 2012, enforcement officers in Wales have been able to use Remedial Action Notices to
secure compliance at all food establishments. They were previously only available for use in approved
premises.

13. 11
5.3 For the second consecutive year, the number of establishments issued with
improvement notices decreased and the number who received written
warnings increased (see Figure 5.3).
86
55
3
9
6
28
420
48
33
93
51
0
2
2
30
316
49
30
63
45
1
4
3
17
207
51
36
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
Voluntary closure
Seizure, detention & surrender of food
Suspension/revocation of approval or
licence
Emergency prohibition notice
Prohibition order
Simple caution
Improvement notices
Remedial action & detention notices
Prosecutions concluded
Number of establishments subject to enforcement actions
Figure 5.2: Comparison of food hygiene enforcement actions in
Wales from 2012/13
2014/15
2013/14
2012/13

14. 12
Food standards enforcement actions
5.4 In total, 1,408 establishments in Wales were subject to food standards
enforcement actions in 2014/15. This was comprised of 1,352 establishments
who received written warnings and 56 who were subject to other formal
enforcement actions.
Figure 5.4: Number of establishments subject to food standards
enforcement actions in Wales in 2014/15
Seizure,
detention and
surrender of
food
Simple
caution
Written
warnings
Prosecutions
concluded
Totals
Wales 6 26 1,352 24 1,408
Rest of the
UK
60 48 12,972 51 13,131
5.5 The total number of establishments subject to food standards enforcement
actions in Wales increased by 25.6% from 2013/14. Increases were reported
in prosecutions completed (from 3 in 2013/14) and written warnings (from
1,121 in 2013/14). However there were decreases in the number of
establishments subject to seizure, detention and surrender notices (from 13 in
2013/14) and simple cautions (from 64 in 2013/14). The large increase in the
number of food standards prosecutions is likely due to the conclusion of cases
connected with the horsemeat incident which began in January 2013.
420
316
207
0 100 200 300 400 500
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15
Number of establishements
subject to improvement notices
Food hygiene Improvement
Notices
12.67
12.85
12.94
12.0 12.2 12.4 12.6 12.8 13.0
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15
Number of establishments subject
to written warnings (thousands)
Food hygiene written warnings
Figure 5.3: Comparison of establishments subject to food hygiene
Improvement Notices and written warnings in Wales from 2012/13

15. 13
5.6 Local authorities are now able to serve food standards improvement notices in
relation to provisions in the EU Food Information for Consumers Regulations
which came into force in December 2014.
852
1,041
1,352
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15
Number of establishments subject to written warnings
Food standards written warnings from 2012/13
30
64
4
13
64
3
6
26
24
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Seizure, detention & surrender
of food
Simple caution
Prosecutions concluded
Number of establishments subject to enforcement actions
Food standards enforcement actions in Wales from 2012/13
2014/15
2013/14
2012/13
Figure 5.5: Comparison of establishments subject to food standards
enforcement actions and written warnings in Wales from 2012/13

16. 14
6. Official food samples
6.1 A total of 6,676 official food samples11 were reported to be taken in Wales in
2014/15, a decrease of 23.6% from 2013/14 (8,736).
6.2 This significant decrease is compared with an overall decrease of 7.5%
across the rest of the UK. The decrease is likely to be due to a return to the
levels of sampling seen before the horsemeat incident which began in
January 2013.
Figure 6.1a: Official sampling in Wales from 2012/13
2012/13 2013/14 2014/15
Microbiological contamination 5,258 6,129 4,623
Other contamination 546 550 465
Composition 1,761 2,051 1,497
Labelling & presentation 999 1,046 595
Other 21 51 40
Unclassified* 0 0 200
Total analyses 8,585 9,827 7,420
Total samples 7,294 8,736 6,676
11 Official samples are those analysed/tested by official control laboratories. The FSA monitoring
returns only collect data on official samples.

17. 15
6.3 Microbiological food sampling is coordinated through the Welsh Food
Microbiological Forum (WFMF). The WFMF is a collaboration of public health
organisations and local authorities in Wales with FSA representation. The aim
is to improve the microbiological quality of food available to Welsh consumers.
This is achieved by using the innovative "shopping basket" protocol with a
nominated list of foods of interest and by completing targeted surveys that
address current food related issues.
6.4 Food standards sampling in Wales is conducted by LAs. Information such as,
national sampling priorities, intelligence, incidents and local priorities are
passed to the Wales Head of Trading Standards (WHoTS) Food Standards
Group which provides a co-ordinating role. Local authorities, Public Analysts
and the FSA are represented on the Group, which participates in the National
Coordinated Food Sampling Programme.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12Numberofanalyses(thousands)
Type of analysis
Figure 6.1b: Comparison of official sampling in Wales from
2012/13
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15

18. 16
7. Consumer complaints about food and food establishments
7.1 Welsh local authorities reported a total of 3,607 consumer complaints about
food and food establishments during 2014/15. This represents a decrease of
8.2% from 2013/14. This compares to an overall increase across the UK of
2.9%. There was a marginal increase (5.7%) in hygiene of food establishment
complaints in Wales.
Food Hygiene
(food safety)
Hygiene of food
establishment
Food standards
(food quality)
2012/13 1,137 1,641 844
2013/14 1,361 1,700 867
2014/15 1,134 1,797 676
1,137
1,641
844
1,361
1,700
867
1,134
1,797
676
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
2,000
Numberofcomplaintsinvestigated
Type of complaint
Figure 7.1: Comparison of consumer complaints investigated in
Wales from 2012/13
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15

19. 17
8. Full time equivalent (FTE)professionalstaff
8.1 A total of 196 FTE professional LA staff were reported as being in post at
31 March 2015, a 9% reduction (from 216) in 2013/14. The reduction, which
was marginally greater for food standards (FS) than food hygiene (FH),
continues the trend in recent years (see Figure 15).
8.2 The number of vacant FTE posts reported at 31 March 2015 was 14, an
increase of 75% (8) in 2013/14, continuing the trend in recent years.
8.3 Figure 8.3 indicates the variation of FTE professional staff in post per 1000
food establishments in Wales over the past three years. The rest of the UK
figure reflects the lower pro-rata number reported by LAs in England.
Figure 8.3: Number of professional FTE staff in post per 1000 food
establishments
2012/13 2013/14 2014/15
Wales 6.3 6.4 5.7
Rest of the UK 4.0 3.7 3.6
FH Allocated FH Occupied FS Allocated FS Occupied
2012/13 168 160 57 55
2013/14 172 167 52 49
2014/15 163 152 47 44
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
NoofFTEProfessionalLAstaff
Figure 8.1: Comparison of FTE allocated/occupied in Wales from
2012/13
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15

20. 18
9. Food hygiene compliance
9.1 The level of ‘broad compliance’ reported in Wales at 31 March 2015 was
94.3% of rated establishments, compared with 91.7% across the UK. This is
an increase from 2013/14 in Wales of 91.8% of rated establishments.
9.2 There was an increase in the level of broad compliance for food
establishments including premises not yet rated in Wales from 89.0% in
2013/14, to 92.1% in 2014/15.
Figure 9.2b: UK food establishment food hygiene compliance levels
2014/15 (including NYR)
% of establishments
which are ‘broadly
compliant’ or better
% of establishments
which are below
‘broadly compliant’
% of establishments
which are not yet
risk rated
2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14
Wales 92.1 89.0 5.5 8.0 2.3 3.0
Rest of the UK 88.0 86.4 6.8 7.8 5.2 5.8
84.4
89
92.1
11.5
8
5.5
4.1
3
2.3
75 80 85 90 95 100
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15
Percentage of risk rated food establishments
Figure 9.2a: Food establishment hygiene compliance levels in
Wales from 2012/13
% of establishments which
are Broadly Compliant or
better
% of establishements which
are below Broadly Compliant
% of establishments which
are not yet rated

21. 19
Glossary
Note
This covers the main terms used in the report only. More detail can be found
on the FSA website, including within the Food Law Code of Practice (FLCoP).12
Broad compliance: A food establishment with a food hygiene intervention rating
score of not more than 10 under each of the following three criteria: Level of
(Current) Compliance – Hygiene; Level of (Current) Compliance – Structure; and
Confidence in Management.
Enforcement action: The steps, measures and sanctions an LA can take in
response to non-compliance with food law at food establishments. Enforcement
actions range from informal steps, such as giving a written warning, to formal
measures such as: serving notices; prohibiting food operations; closure of a food
establishment and prosecution. The action taken is determined by the relevant
circumstances of each case and in accordance with the LA’s enforcement policy.
Food establishment: Has the same meaning as ‘Establishment’ in the FLCoP. It
does not simply mean ‘premises’, but is directly linked to the business occupying the
establishment.
Food Hygiene Intervention Rating: A score given to each establishment to
determine the frequency of intervention by LAs. The intervention rating for food
hygiene is based on assessment of a number of elements: type of food and
processing; number and type of consumers potentially at risk; current compliance of
the establishment; risk of contamination; and confidence in management. The
intervention rating is on a scale from 0 to 197. The higher the overall score given to
the business, the greater the frequency of intervention by the LA.
Risk Category Score* Intervention frequency
A ≥ 92 At least every 6 months
B 72 to 91 At least every 12 months
C 42 to 71 At least every 18 months
D 31 to 41 At least every 24 months
E 0 to 30
A programme of alternative enforcement strategies or
interventions every three years
12 Food Law Codes of Practice for Wales at
http://www.food.gov.uk/wales/regswales/regsguid_wales/codepracticewales.

22. 20
Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS): A statutory scheme operates in Wales. It
provides transparency to consumers about hygiene standards in individual food
businesses at the time of LA inspection. Levels are presented on a simple numerical
scale from ‘0’ at the bottom to ‘5’ at the top. Ratings are derived using three of the
elements that are assessed to determine the Food Hygiene Intervention Rating. This
is illustrated in the table below. From November 2014, to coincide with the first
anniversary of the statutory scheme, the scope of the statutory food hygiene rating
scheme was extended to include business to business trade establishments.
How the six FHRS food hygiene ratings are derived from FLCoP food hygiene scoring system
Total
FLCoP
scores*
0 - 15 20 25 - 30 35 - 40 45 - 50 > 50
Additional
scoring
factor
No individual
score
greater than
5
No individual
score
greater than
10
No individual
score
greater than
10
No individual
score
greater than
15
No individual
score
greater than
20
-
Food
hygiene
rating
Descriptor Very good Good
Generally
satisfactory
Improvement
necessary
Major
improvement
necessary
Urgent
improvement
necessary
Broadly
compliant?
Yes Yes Yes No No No
*The sum of the three relevant FLCoP food hygiene intervention rating scores which are: compliance
in (1) food hygiene and safety procedures, (2) structure, and (3) confidence in management.
Food standards intervention rating: A score given to each establishment to
determine the frequency of intervention by LAs. The intervention rating for food
standards is based on an assessment of a number of elements: risk to consumers
and other businesses; type of activity; complexity of the law applying; number of
consumers potentially at risk; current compliance; and confidence in management.
The rating is on a scale from 0 to 180. The higher the overall score given to the
business, the greater the frequency of intervention by the LA.
Risk Category Score Intervention frequency
A 101 to 180 At least every 12 months
B 46 to 100 At least every 24 months
C 0 to 45 Alternative enforcement strategy or intervention every
five years
Establishments rated as low-risk (45 or less) need not be included in the planned inspection
programme but must be subject to an alternative enforcement strategy at least once in every
5 years.

23. 21
Interventions: These are visits to food establishments for inspection, monitoring,
surveillance, verification, audit and sampling, as well as for education and
information gathering purposes. Interventions ensure that food meets the
requirements of both food hygiene and food standards law. More than one type of
intervention may be carried out during a single visit to a food establishment.
Local Authority (LA): The food authority in its area or district. All local authorities in
Wales are unitary authorities which are responsible for food safety and hygiene, and
food standards.
Not yet rated: Establishments such as new businesses yet to be assessed and
rated for risk for either food hygiene and food standards.
Official sample: A sample of food or any other substance relevant to the production,
processing and distribution of food, to verify, through analysis, compliance with food
law. Analysis is carried out by an official control laboratory.
Outside the intervention programme: LAs may assess some establishments as
being outside the intervention programme, because any food provision is incidental
to the main activity and is very low risk, for example, betting shops and hairdressers
serving coffee.
UK Food Surveillance System (UKFSS): A national database for central storage of
analytical results from feed and food samples taken by LAs and PHAs as part of their
official controls.
Written warning: This is an informal enforcement action. It includes any relevant
communication with the proprietor/owner/manager of a food establishment stating
that infringements of legislation have been found. It includes written warnings to a
trader drawing attention to possible non-compliance with legislation but not
correspondence of a purely advisory or good practice nature. This may include
written warnings left at the time of inspection/visit.