Scores on the Doors FAQ's

 

 

 

All food businesses in the Dudley borough are subject to compulsory hygiene inspections by Environmental Health Officers (EHO's). Since the Freedom of Information Act 2000 came fully into force in January 2005, we have received many requests to make the inspection reports public.  In the public interest, we have therefore simplified these reports into star ratings and made them available on this website.

 

Not at the current time. The Food Standards Agency are currently consulting on various pilot schemes being used across the country and are expected to make a firm recommendation for a consistent national scheme in late 2008. It is possible therefore that the Dudley scheme will need to be adapted in the future to meet recommendations for a national scheme. For example the 5 star rating scheme may at a future date be amended to be a 3 star scheme.

 

 

All food premises inspected are included in the publication scheme except:

 

The results of food hygiene inspections carried out from 1st January 2008 are displayed.  Food premises are inspected at intervals ranging from 6 months for the highest risk premises to 36 months for the lowest risk premises.  As the publication scheme is new, it will be some time before all food premises are detailed. If you cannot find the premises you are searching for, this does not mean that it has not been inspected but more likely that it was last inspected before January 2008 with the next inspection not being due until a future date.

 

Please note that our reasons for gathering such information are not to provide a system for recommending premises. Readers should look carefully at the wording of the descriptors when interpreting the ratings. Our inspections are specific and the rating system only reflects those concerns. Ratings are based on conditions found at the time of the last inspection. Therefore the score may not be representative of the overall, long-term food hygiene standards of the business and should not be solely relied upon as a guide to food safety or quality.

 

Following a full food hygiene inspection (known as a primary inspection), a business’s overall rating will be given based on three main areas, these being:

 

 

The hygiene rating given to premises will be based on the latest full inspection carried out and as such will represent the situation found by the inspecting officer on the day of that inspection.

 

A food business achieving 5* has an excellent standard of food safety and hygiene. A 4* means that there is a very good standard of food safety and hygiene and a 3* that the standard is good. A 2* rating is acceptable and indicates broad compliance with food safety and hygiene legislation. A 1* rating is considered to be poor and improvements have been required of the business. Any business rated as having no stars is failing to meet basic standards of food safety and hygiene and is considered to be very poor.

 

All food businesses inspected from April 2008 will be provided with a display letter detailing the inspection results and the star rating. Display letters are available on request for all inspections carried out between January and March 2008. Businesses will be requested to display their star rating on the premises for customers to see the inspection results. However, there is no legal obligation to display the results on the premises, although this will be strongly encouraged. Even if a business chooses not to display their results on the premises for customers inspection, all inspections from January 2008 will be displayed on this website.

 

 

Businesses that wish to challenge their rating are able to submit a representation in writing to the Food and Occupational Safety Manager within 14 days of receiving their report.  On receipt of a representation, the Manager or Principal Environmental Health Officer will verify the accuracy of the rating based on the Code of Practice requirements and the inspection information and data. The premises will not be revisited or reinspected. The rating will only be amended if it is found that there has been a discrepency in applying the original rating as required by the Code of Practice.  The result of the representation will be notified in writing. Any person aggrieved by the written decision may submit a formal complaint through the Council’s complaint procedure.

 

You should be aware of the Council's Copyright and re-use of data requirements, details of which are available.

 

All businesses will have been informed of what action must be taken to comply with food safety and hygiene legislation. Further enforcement action will be in progress for all no star premises. This action may range from an educative approach with further inspections for new businesses to the service of statutory Improvement Notices and/or legal proceedings against business proprietors in line with the Council’s Enforcement Policy.

Any food premises deemed to pose a serious and imminent risk to public health will be closed, normally by using emergency powers in food legislation which allow Environmental Health Officers to prohibit a business from operating only until the matters causing imminent risk have been remedied. Please note that a poor standard of cleanliness alone is not sufficient grounds to prohibit a business from operating, although it would be grounds for other enforcement action such as prosecution.