A quarter of premises up for a food hygiene review by the Isle of Wight Council last year were not inspected.
Alliance councillor Paul Fuller has questioned why only 75% of businesses due an intervention were assessed in 2024/25.
He asked the question at last week’s (26th March) environment and community protection committee meeting.
The Cowes West and Gurnard representative said the inspections are supposed to be done ‘quite often’ and asked for a reason why there has been a delay.
Rachel Briscoe, team manager for business regulation and public protection at the Isle of Wight Council, in response said the local authority must balance resources and statutory demands. She also told the committee higher risk premises had a 100% inspection rate.
Cllr Fuller also probed why it was not mandatory for businesses to put their inspection ratings on display.
“If I want to eat somewhere, I want to know what they’re going to give me,” he added.
Ms Briscoe said:
“We need to balance resources and statutory demands. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) would expect 100 per cent. The premises are risk rated based on their frequency so a very high-risk premises would need inspecting every six months and it goes down to a lower risk premises that’s expected to be inspected every three years.
“The higher risk ones – yes you will see 100% performance but then it drops down to the lower risk ones who are only achieving a lower percentage.
“When you look at it as a totality, it is that 75%”
Responding to Cllr Fuller’s second query, Ms Briscoe said she would love a mandatory display policy but that power sits with the FSA.
The council does, however, work to ensure businesses display the correct rating, the officer added.
Doesn’t surprise me at all, there are so many FILTH HOLES
out there!
Even ones with 5 Stars leave little to the imagination
sometimes it makes me wonder how they got their
5 Star rating.
Lol
Maybe they give the Numpty inspector a free meal.
I have been in numerous establishments over the years on
the island.
Some establishments have more chips on the kitchen floor
than on customers plates.
I have seen filthy numpties standing outside establishments
smoking and vaping and then go straight back inside and
start serving customers or going straight into the kitchen to
cook, not to mention seeing chefs coming out of toilet
cubicles and walking straight back into the kitchen without
washing their hands.
PURE FILTH, THE PANDEMIC HAS NOT TAUGHT THESE FILTHY
B’STARDS ANYTHING!
There is only an handful of places I go to eat out at.
ALL ESTABLISHMENTS SHOULD BE FORCED TO DISPLAY THEIR
HYGIENE RATINGS!
A lot are not checked because they belong to acting members of the masons,thats why.
Rotten to the core as usual like most things in the country
Well if there isn’t a rating displayed, we all know why and that’s a place to avoid. Simple.
My thoughts exactly