A senior councillor has signed off Powys County Council’s Food Service Plan for this year - nearly six months late.

On Tuesday, September 16, Cabinet member for Legal and Regulatory Services, Cllr Richard Church (Liberal Democrat – Welshpool Castle) took a delegated decision to approve this year’s plan.

This service plan sets how: “Food hygiene and food standards enforcement will be carried out in Powys by the Environmental Health and Trading Standards services of the Authority in 2025/26.

“The annual plan aims to communicate how national and local priorities and standards are addressed and is effective from April 1, 2025.”

In December 2023, the council received an audit visit from the Food Standards Agency FSA) to assess their food service delivery planning processes and arrangements, and to review relevant open audit actions from previous audits.

This resulted in a “Limited Assurance” report for both Food Hygiene and Food Standards.

To address the deficiencies identified in this report, more funding was needed by the department to be able to do this.

At a Cabinet meeting in July ,senior councillors agreed that an extra £211,000 would be allocated to the Public Protection Service for a three-year period to increase the council’s ability to do require work.

Director of Corporate Services and s151 officer Jane Thomas said: “The plan acknowledges the significant challenges faced by the service, particularly in relation to resource constraints and the ability to meet statutory inspection frequencies as required by the Food Law Code of Practice.

“The council has committed additional funding for three years to support service recovery and partial compliance with statutory duties.

“It is noted that further investment may be required in future to ensure full statutory compliance and to address the findings of the Food Standards Agency’s audit.”

She added that the department would “continue” to monitor its performance and “resources needs” closely.

Ms Thomas added: “The plan is therefore supported on the basis that it reflects a realistic and risk-based approach to service delivery within the current financial envelope.”

There are 2,759 food premises in Powys, ranging from major manufacturing businesses to small corner shops.

There are also an estimated 5,059 premises that may be subject to food hygiene at primary production controls, these include livestock and arable farms.

The plan will come into force on Wednesday, September 24.