Food Regulatory Service Plan 2026-27

www.orkney.gov.uk

IMAGE: The cover shows the Orkney Islands Council crest above a photograph of standing stones silhouetted against a blue and purple sky. The title “Food Regulatory Service Plan 2026-27” and the website “www.orkney.gov.uk” appear over the photograph.

Orkney Islands Council

Planning and Regulatory Services

Environmental Health

Food Regulatory Service Plan for 2026/27

Contents

• Food Regulatory Service Plan — 1
• 2026-27 — 1
• Foreword — 5
• Service Aims and Objectives — 6
• Aims of the service — 6
• Service Objectives — 6
• Strategic planning and links to the Council priorities — 7
• Background — 7
• Local Profile — 7
• Organisational Structure — 8
• Service Delivery Points — 8
• Scope of Service — 9
• Key functions of the Council in relation to food law — 10
• Key functions of the Council in relation to animal food and feed — 11
• Demands on the Food Service — 13
• Approved Premises — 13
• Milk Production Holdings — 13
• Programmed interventions – Policy and approach — 13
• Service requests and infectious disease — 14
• Port health — 14
• Backlog and legacy premises — 15
• Non inspection interventions — 15
• Food law database — 15
• Food hygiene information scheme — 15
• Primary Authority Scheme — 16
• Advice to Business — 16
• Food Sampling — 16
• Control and Investigation of Outbreaks and Food Related Infectious Disease — 16
• Food Safety Incidents — 17
• Food and Feeding stuffs Complaints — 17
• Liaison with Other Organisations — 17
• Food Safety Promotion — 18
• Enforcement Policy — 18
• Service Delivery for 2026/27 — 19
• Approved premises — 19
• Programmed interventions — 20
• Rolled over premises — 21
• Backlog and legacy premises — 22
• Service requests, infectious disease and food poisoning — 22
• Support to new, existing and developing businesses — 22
• Sampling — 23
• Food safety promotion — 23
• Licensing consultations — 23
• Staff training and development — 23
• Port health — 23
• Management information system and database — 24
• Staffing Allocation and resources — 24
• Resources required — 24
• Resources available — 25
• Staff Development Plan — 27
• Financial Allocation — 27
• Quality Assessment — 27
• Review — 27
• Review of the year 2025/6 — 28
• Notable activities throughout the year — 28
• Key data — 29
• Review against the previous service plan priorities — 31
• Planned work in 2026/27 — 33
• Glossary — 34

Section 1: Background

Foreword

Orkney Islands Council recognises the importance that the local food industry plays in relation to employment, economic growth, healthy communities and the “Orkney brand”. The Council also recognises that poorly managed and non-compliant food businesses create risks to the public and economic disadvantage to those businesses who comply with the law. Therefore, the Council takes its duties and responsibilities as a statutory Food Authority and a regulator of food law seriously and commits to delivering a food law service which is appropriate for the needs of Orkney businesses, residents and visitors.

This Food Service Plan provides the strategy for the coming year and our intention to target the Council’s Environmental Health resources towards frontline services and the regulation of the higher-risk activities. It provides the framework for monitoring the impact of the service and the level of regulatory compliance that is achieved.

The plan fits with, and adds support to, the Environmental Health Team Plan, setting out the standard of performance that is expected and our priorities for the year. Through this Service Plan and the Council’s adopted enforcement policy, the Council acknowledges and supports the idea that assisting and encouraging business to meet food law requirements is as important as identifying non-compliance, thereby contributing to the Council’s overall vision of working together for Orkney.

Prepared by:

Mark Coleman
Environmental Health Officer and Lead Food Officer

Gary Foubister
Service Manager – Trading Standards

Nick Long
Service Manager - Environmental Health

Approved by:

Gavin Barr
Head of Planning & Regulatory Services and Chief Planning Officer

Lorna Richardson
Director, Infrastructure and Organisational Development

April 2026

Aims and Objectives

Aims

This plan commits to the following as far as practicable:

• To deliver the Council’s duties and responsibilities as a statutory Food Authority and regulator of food law.
• To help ensure that food placed on the market at local, national, or international level which is produced, stored, distributed, or handled within Orkney, is compliant with necessary food law.
• To support local business and encourage sustainable economic growth including through issuing certification to help local businesses trade in markets overseas and encouraging local businesses to meet best practice regarding food law compliance.

Service Objectives

These commitments will be achieved through the following supporting objectives:

• Providing advice and support to help businesses comply with their legal obligations.
• Delivering a programme of official control verification (OCV) interventions at approved premises and certain higher risk manufacturers.
• Delivering a programme of risk-based interventions in relation to other regulated food businesses.
• Ensuring that any action following an intervention is consistent, transparent, and proportionate to the risk.
• Maintaining an up-to-date register of food premises and list of approved premises.
• Investigating complaints and cases of infection (with NHSO colleagues) and taking appropriate and proportionate action regarding food, food standards or food premises/practices.
• Undertaking targeted risk based environmental and food samples as part of a planned programme or to support a specific incident or investigation.
• Undertaking relevant training and development activities to ensure continued provision of competent officers able to deal with all aspects of food law regulation in proportionate and timely way.
• Raising the profile of the service, with a view to looking at sustainable and longer-term resource planning.

Strategic planning and links to the Council priorities

The Council has approved a Council Plan for 2023-28 which sets out how the Council will deliver its ambitions for Orkney’s future and deliver the very best for communities and businesses. Although the Plan highlights in some detail the important strategic priorities for the Council, it also emphasises that the essential statutory services provided by the council are a top priority. This includes the Council’s function as a Food Authority and regulator of food law.

The Council plan emphasises the Council’s ambitions to help improve the local economy and maintain our existing high standards of service. The themes of the Council plan, including delivering front line statutory services, are reflected through the Council Delivery Plan, Directorate Action plan(s) and individual Team Plans.

A critical reality for the Council is to ensure a sustainable budget and and all services have been reminded of the imperative to contain spending within the agreed budget.

Whilst the majority of food law activity is undertaken by the Council’s Environmental Health Team, the Council recognises and acknowledges the valuable support from other Council teams including legal services and also partners such as FSS, NHSO, the Police, Marine Scotland, APHA, COPFS and the Scottish Authorities in their assistance in meeting our obligations and duties in relation to food law.

Background

Local Profile

Orkney is located about 9 miles north of the mainland of Scotland and is an archipelago of 54 islands, of which 18 are inhabited. Orkney covers an area of 974 square kilometres, with more than half being taken up by the mainland of Orkney. The largest island is known as Mainland, with the south isles of Burray, Lamb Holm, Glimps Holm and South Ronaldsay joined by the Churchill Barriers. The outer islands to the north of Mainland are Shapinsay, Rousay, Egilsay, Wyre, Westray, Eday, Sanday, Stronsay, Papa Westray, North Ronaldsay and to the south of Mainland Hoy, Graemsay and Flotta.

The total population of Orkney is estimated at over 22,000, with approximately 80% living on the Mainland of Orkney and linked islands. Population projections show Orkney overall is ageing at a faster rate than Scotland, and that the population is set to continue to increase.

Agriculture remains a primary source of economic activity, followed closely by tourism. The public sector is a significant employer with other industries including oil, fishing, salmon farming, renewable energy, craft industries and food and drink processing.

Although Orkney is geographically isolated, the islands are well served by transport links to mainland Scotland.

Organisational Structure

A structure chart for the Environmental Health Team is in appendix 1. It will be noted that Environmental Health staff cover the full range of environmental health duties on behalf of the Council. Administrative support is provided by the Council’s directorate support service.

Trading Standards staff undertake a variety of work including that in connection with feed law, animal health and animal welfare.

The Service Manager – Environmental Health has the responsibility for the operational delivery and strategic direction of the Environmental Health service and the Service Manager – Trading Standards has responsibility for the operational delivery and strategic direction of the Trading Standards Service.

At the time of writing the Council has 3 Authorised Food Law Officers, but this does not equate to 3 FTEs in relation to food law work. Calculation of full-time equivalents working on food law within the current structure is difficult with the exception of the Food Safety Officer who is employed full time delivering lower risk food work such as sampling and inspections of group 2 and 3 businesses.

The Lead Food Officer is a qualified Environmental Health Officer responsible for a number of duties including those relating to food law, health and safety at work, infectious disease and port health. An existing food experienced Environmental Health Technical Officer is in their final year of completing their BSc in environmental health and once qualified as an EHO they will pick up additional duties, further diminishing the time they have previously had available for food law work. Recruitment to a vacant EHO post and a new Port Health Officer post has been unsuccessful, however from October to 2025 to March 2026 the Council engaged a contract EHO to help with a number of tasks, including food law inspections. Thus, a key task for 2026/27 is to look at organisational structure and the sustainability of the workforce, keeping in mind the SAFER programme.

Service Delivery Points

Staff are based at the main Council Offices in Kirkwall and the Council has introduced the option of a hybrid working scheme which employees are able to request should they so wish. This is still being trialled by one member of the team and although a finalised corporate policy is still awaited, it is anticipated the Council will further embrace flexible and hybrid working.

Staff who are not in the main office are able to communicate with colleagues via MS teams, phone and email.

Engagement with duty holders and food business operators is generally at the business address. The Service can also be accessed by telephone, email or in person during office hours at the Council reception in Kirkwall or by arrangement at the warehouse building in Stromness. However given staff resources, appointments are preferred in order to make sure an appropriate officer is available. In addition, out of hours inspections/visits may also take place according to risk and business need. This includes out of hours work to support the Council’s role as a Port Health Authority. Although some non-inspection interventions and “virtual inspections” have been trialled, the preference is for regulated establishments and activities to always receive a physical inspection.

Voicemail systems are in place for calls received out of hours and, with the exception of the port health email account, e-mails will only be dealt with during office working hours. The service does not operate a formalised out of hours emergency response service, but informal arrangements are in place for the Service Manager - Safety and Resilience and the Emergency Services (including NHS Orkney, FSS, Scottish Water and HSE) to contact Environmental Health or Trading Standards outside normal office hours in response to a genuine emergency. However, the informal nature of this arrangement does not guarantee a response can be made before the next working day. Out of hours services are managed within the flexible working/time off in lieu provisions and are thus reliant upon the team ethic and goodwill of team members. There is insufficient resource to establish a formal stand-bye/duty rota system.

Scope of Service

The portfolio of food businesses within Orkney fluctuates, but at the time of writing is in the order of 761 and ranges from primary production sites, international exporters, to caterers and “honesty boxes”. Orkney products have international renown and are sold locally as well being exported worldwide. During the year 69 businesses closed, however this figure also includes businesses that have changed hands and subsequently re-opened under new management.

The numbers and categories of food hygiene/food standards premises, as defined by Food Standards Scotland, are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Number and Type of Food Businesses (excluding approved premises)

Key functions of the Council in relation to food law

The following are the key functions carried out by the environmental health team on behalf of the Council as a Food Law authority.

• Inspection of premises where food is manufactured, processed, prepared, or sold to ensure that it is handled and produced safely and that the premises operate in a hygienic manner to at least minimum legal requirements.
• Inspection of food businesses to ensure legal compliance with quality, composition, labelling, presentation, and advertising.
• Issuing approvals for premises that manufacture or process designated high risk products of animal origin.
• Undertaking official control verification (OCV) at approved premises.
• Providing advice and guidance to food business operators on how they can achieve compliance with the law, manage risks and implement best practice.
• Investigation of food complaints in respect of contamination, composition, labelling and unhygienic practices.
• Obtaining samples of food and submitting them for examination and analysis to ensure it is free from contamination and that the composition and labelling is accurate.
• Investigation of cases and outbreaks of food poisoning and food borne disease in partnership with NHS Orkney Health Protection Team.
• Issuing relevant export certificates to facilitate trade outwith the UK.
• Issuing registration documents to allow the harvesting and movement of certain species of shellfish/molluscs.
• Responding to food alerts, allergen alerts, food incidents and participation in incident management teams as necessary.
• Sharing intelligence and information on food crime, food fraud and other issues of concern with FSS and other relevant partners.
• Responding to information requests.
• Implementing product withdrawals.
• Liaison with Food Standards Scotland, in particular the Food Crimes and Incident Branch.
• Promoting issues of priority or concern to businesses, residents and visitors to Orkney.
• Training and development of staff to maintain a competent and sustainable cadre of Authorised Officers.
• Providing certificates to enable street trading and food sales as part of a premises licence.
• Maintaining an accurate database of food premises and activities.

Key functions of the Council in relation to animal food and feed

The council’s Trading Standards Team carries out the following functions in relation to food and feed:

• Inspects premises in which feed is manufactured and stored for sale to establish that procedures are in place to ensure compliance with the compositional and labelling requirements of feed legislation and to ensure compliance with feed hygiene and primary production requirements.
• Inspects livestock and arable farms to ensure safe production of feed and good animal feeding practices.
• Investigates complaints about feed.
• Takes samples of feed when necessary for examination and analysis to ensure freedom from contaminants and compliance with compositional and labelling requirements.
• Provides advice and information to businesses that manufacture, store, distribute and supply feed on the requirements of applicable legislation.
• Has a statutory duty to enforce legislation applicable to fertilisers and can undertake this duty along with feed enforcement at applicable premises.
• Provides the council’s statutory animal welfare functions.

Animal Feed Update

On 1 April 2021 Food Standards Scotland (FSS) became the authorised body for animal feed enforcement replacing local authorities. This was to address weakness in feed enforcement in some areas of Scotland, mainly urban, where animal feed, animal welfare, and primary production was not considered a priority and had not been adequately resourced with no staff maintaining the annual statutory continuous professional development (CPD) in this area of work.

FSS invited all local authorities to enter into Direct Service Level Agreements (DSLA) with them to enforce animal feed legislation in their areas and Orkney Islands Council duly contracted to do so, initially entering a 3 year agreement which was is reviewed annually and has been extended for at least a further 12 months.

FSS is now responsible for management of the statutory animal feed register which has almost 800 businesses registered in Orkney and prescribes which registered premises Orkney Islands Council has to visit and inspect each year and how many formal or informal feed samples the local authority has to take. These inspections are programmed to dovetail with animal welfare inspections so the duty is not onerous and FSS provides free training each year to ensure all officers involved maintain the annual statutory 10 hours continuous professional development required. Presently the Trading Standards Manager and the Animal Welfare Officer maintain the necessary CPD with the Trainee Trading Standards Officer now also added to the training programme.

In 2025/26 Orkney Islands Council undertook all the enforcement activity prescribed in the DSLA and FSS has confirmed that they do not have any issues with the service provided on Orkney and are happy to extend the DSLA.

Section 2: Demands on Service

Approved Premises

There are 30 premises in Orkney that (at the time of writing) hold approval status under Regulation (EC) No 853/2004. These approved premises are expected to meet higher legal requirements as they process or handle products of animal origin. Approved premises are subject to Official Control Verification (OCV).

Note some premises hold more than one approval.

Premises subject to Official Control Verification have an enhanced system of intervention deemed necessary to ensure businesses undertaking high risk activities with products of animal origin meet the stringent requirements for food safety. Where previously an inspection could have taken 2½ hours, an official control verification could take between 2 to 5 days, according to the size and complexity of the operation. This has a great potential impact on the service demands.

Milk Production Holdings

In addition to Approved premises under Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, there are a number of premises approved as milk production holdings. These are not regulated by the Council.

Programmed interventions – Policy and approach

The Food Law Code of Practice aims to ensure an effective, consistent and proportionate approach to the delivery of Food Official Controls by Local Authorities across Scotland to protect food safety and the wider interests of consumers. The term “food law” is used to cover food safety, food hygiene and food standards. The term intervention is used to indicate formal interactions between the Council as the Food Law Authority and food businesses that operate in Orkney. The Council acknowledges the wide definition of “food business” under food law and recognises that this will cover all premises where food is placed on the market for consumers.

Orkney Islands Council considers programmed “interventions” at food premises to be an essential element in protecting consumers. Increasingly however, the resource efficacy of the traditional system of formalised “inspections” is being called into question for low and lower risk premises – especially when balanced within an “all risks” approach to regulatory activities allocated to the Council’s environmental health team¹. The Council is aware of the national SAFER² programme which may result in change in frequency/approach to inspections and interventions and welcomes this modernisation of regulatory approaches. Until then, and in accordance with the Statutory Codes of Practice, all food premises are scheduled for either an inspection on a risk assessed basis as part of a rolling programme or as in the case of approved premises programmed to receive at least 1 official control verification (OCV) intervention per year.

For premises subject to a risk-based inspection, the frequency of inspection is determined in line with the Code of Practice. The assessment has three groups (1 to 3), each sub-divided into 5 bands (A to E), each having their own inspection frequency. The groups identify the production and handling activities and the band is a measure of risk as identified through the compliance achieved by the business in terms of food law. From this matrix the next inspection can be identified, be that 1 month or up to 60 months frequency.

¹ An balance has to be achieved between a mandatory inspection of a low risk food business and other regulatory work, for example that in connection with the enforcement of the relevant health and safety statutory provisions which has moved to a more targeted evidence based and focussed approach.

² Scottish Local Authorities Food Enforcement Rebuild (SAFER) – a partnership project between all local authorities in Scotland and Food Standards Scotland which is looking at future approaches and sustainable solutions for food law regulation and enforcement in Scotland.

Service requests and infectious disease

The service receives requests of all types relating to food law. These may include requests to provide information and guidance, through to responding to food alerts and participating in Incident Management Teams dealing with serious issues.

Port health

Officers provide the Port Health function and at the time of writing recruitment has been unsuccessful for a newly created post of Environmental Health Technical Officer – Port Health. This is disappointing as it follows the establishment of funding for a new post as a permanent budget uplift for the service introduced by the Council as part of its budget setting process in April 2025.

Orkney is not a Border Control Point, so the port health work primarily relates to ship sanitation inspections, granting of free pratique and general support to the cruise ship and commercial port operations. This results in pressures, especially during the summer “cruise season” where out of hours work is necessary. Orkney is one of the busiest cruise port destinations in the UK, making this a significant task and responsibility each summer. An assessment of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) following the UK exit from the European Union has not resulted in a significant impact for the work of the team. However, should economic activities shift and Orkney seeks to become a port of entry for food, a further assessment against the BTOM would be required and this is likely to result in significant additional work.

Backlog and legacy premises

There are still a number of premises which, owing to staff resources, covid19 and pressures of other work are still in need of an inspection. These are considered as “backlog/legacy” premises and have been factored into the resource calculation for the coming year. The number of premises in the backlog list is 106. An invitation to tender for a contractor to help complete this work was prepared and issued in 2025, unfortunately no expressions to take on the work were received.

Non inspection interventions

Where appropriate and resources allow the Council also undertakes alternative non inspection interventions including sampling, monitoring, surveillance or education and this enables a lighter touch for compliant premises meaning resources can be targeted on non-compliant premises in line with the enforcement policy.

Food law database

The Council’s food law database is currently provided by Civica APP software (on a rolling contract) and is automatically linked to the Scottish National Database (SND) meaning that data relating to official controls and other interventions at food businesses across all Scottish Authorities is held centrally in one place for consumers to access. It is recognised that a “de-support notice” may be issued for the Civica APP system and this will entail obtaining a replacement, keeping in mind the FSS SAFER programme and council’s IT strategy. There are historic issues regarding the interface between the Civica APP system and the SND of which both the software supplier and FSS are aware and this means there may be data inaccuracies between the 2 systems.

A key task for the year will be to make sure there is a sustainable resource to cover the system administration of the Civica APP MIS, if it is determined to continue using this system.

Food hygiene information scheme

The Council participates in the Food Hygiene Information System (FHIS), which is a FSS/local authority partnership initiative for providing consumers with information about hygiene standards in places where they eat or shop for food. The overarching aim is to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness (and the associated cost to the economy) through improved hygiene standards. Relevant businesses may display a ‘Pass’ or ‘Improvement Required’ certificate which is issued by the Council after inspection of a relevant premises. Premises in the scheme which are yet to be inspected are issued an “awaiting inspection” categorisation.

Primary Authority Scheme

The Council acknowledges the Primary Authority scheme, but there are few businesses within Orkney that participate in the scheme. Where a business does operate a Primary Authority, the officers of the Council will take note of any inspection plan produced by the primary authority to improve the effectiveness of inspection, avoid repeated checks and enable better sharing of information.

The service also acknowledges the need to respond to requests for Originating Authority reports from any food authority whose investigations identify a manufacturer or supplier within Orkney.

The Council acts as Originating Authority for all Orkney food businesses and referrals from other competent authorities are dealt with on the basis of risk.

Advice to Business

The bulk of advisory work is carried out during inspections and visits. This includes advice on compliance with all aspects of food law (i.e. hygiene, safety and standards). The Service also provides advice to potential business start-ups or when significant refurbishment is being considered.

The Service provides advice on request to both businesses and consumers. There is no charge or time cap levied for this advice.

Food Sampling

Sampling programmes incorporate the North of Scotland Food Liaison Group initiatives and national surveys initiated by the Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee (SFELC), the Health Protection Scotland (HPS), Food Standards Scotland, and Food Standards Coordinating Working Group (FSCWG). Where possible, sampling is focused on food produced for local consumption in Orkney or wider distribution.

The Council supports the Scottish Food Safety Database which electronically records and downloads all food and feed sampling. Sample results are placed on a secure website where national trends can be easily identified. The Council has appointed a Public Analyst and Food Examiner, and they are based in Edinburgh.

Importantly, the logistics of taking “formal samples” (for example in connection with enforcement) and the transfer of those to the Public Analyst in Edinburgh in compliance with the code are very challenging; this is a recognised risk and would need to be factored into the response to any serious incident or outbreak. Only trained Food Enforcement Officers carry out formal sampling.

Control and Investigation of Outbreaks and Food Related Infectious Disease

The Service works with NHSO Health Protection colleagues to investigate, respond and control cases and outbreaks of infectious disease, including potential or actual cases of food poisoning and foodborne disease. In the event of a food or water-borne incident, and where issues of public health dictate, staff will be diverted from pro-active work to attend to the incident. A Joint Health Protection Plan, prepared with NHSO, covers this work.

The Service has no formal out-of-hours arrangements and relies on the good will of officers to respond to out-of-hours incidents, should they be able.

The service regularly meets with colleagues from NHSO Health Protection Team and Scottish Water public health/science team to share information and discuss matters of mutual interest.

Food Safety Incidents

The Food Service receives notification of “Food/allergy Alerts” from FSS by email. This system is monitored throughout each working day and out-of-hours contact arrangements are registered with the FSS for emergencies. Additionally, Officers within the Service may receive intelligence relating to food crime via the FSS CLEAR system. There are issues with 2 factor authentication as some officer’s do not use smart phones, and rely on 2FA using email or automated voice calls – but the CLEAR system does not seem to currently offer this capability.

Food and Feeding stuffs Complaints

The Service will consider and, where appropriate, investigate every food complaint in accordance with procedures and the Food Law Code of Practice including recording data on the relevant national databases. All food complaints are evaluated on receipt by an Authorised Officer. Complainers are informed of the proposed course of action and of the progress and outcome of their complaint. The Council has appointed a Public Analyst and Food Examiner(s) to assist with investigation of food complaints and the analysis of samples. Sometimes it may be more appropriate for the consumer to liaise directly with the manufacturer or retailer. The Environmental Health Team cannot negotiate compensation or refunds.

Where food involved in a complaint originates outside Orkney, liaison with the appropriate Primary/originating or enforcement authority is undertaken. Arrangements are in place to allow the transfer of information and investigatory responsibilities with other Local Authorities or Food Standards Scotland when necessary. All subjects of complaint, if sent to the Public Analyst for examination or analysis, are recorded on the national electronic Food Surveillance System/Scottish Food Sampling database, in accordance with appropriate procedures.

Liaison with Other Organisations

The principal vehicle for inter-authority liaison is the North of Scotland Food Liaison Group, where the Lead Food Officer represents the Council. Attendance at these meetings helps, ensure consistency of enforcement and best practice regarding food law issues and cooperation with key partner agencies such as Food Standards Scotland. Attendance is also a requirement of the Framework agreement between local authorities and the FSS.

The Service Manager - Environmental Health attends meetings of the Orkney Local Emergency Planning Coordination Group (OLECG), which is a multi-agency group set up to deal with any emergency incident affecting Orkney. Officers also attend the Scottish Health Protection Network Gastro, Intestinal and Zoonotic Diseases group (SHPN GIZ). Regular meetings take place between the Service Manager, Scottish Water Public Health Team and NHSO Consultant in Public Health Medicine.

The Service also has internal liaison arrangements with the Building Standards and Planning Services for prospective and refurbishment of food business premises and with the Licensing Committee and Board for licensed food premises and Street Traders.

Food Safety Promotion

The authority will participate in promotional activities with external agencies and other services within the Council, where it is deemed to support the protection of public health and resources allow. For example, a presentation was made during 2024 to managers of community halls in Orkney and in 2025 to the managers of nursery school establishments to help them comply with their legal responsibilities.

Enforcement Policy

The Council has adopted the Cabinet Office Enforcement Concordat and this is incorporated within the General Enforcement Policy which has also taken into consideration the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006, the Hampton Principles, and the Scottish Regulators’ Strategic Code of Practice.

A full review of the enforcement policy involving consultation with the public, local businesses and partners took place in 2023 and resulted in a revised general enforcement policy being agreed by elected members and signed off by the Full Council in December 2023. The revised policy is on the Council website at Policy General Enforcement Policy.

Through the enforcement policy the Council recognises the so called “4 Es” of enforcement – “Engage, Explain, Educate, Enforce” and the service endeavours to apply these in order of preference, having regard to the nature of the risk and particular situation.

The range of interventions available allows food enforcement officers who work under delegated authority to use their professional judgement in applying a proportionate level of enforcement to each situation/business, in line with the Council’s enforcement policy, with a minimum being a summary report left with the business after every visit/inspection.

Section 3: Service delivery

Service Delivery for 2026/27

The number of premises due for inspection will vary year by year, depending upon risk profile and there is also additional variability as to the exact number of service requests, cases of infectious disease/food poisoning or food alerts that will be received during the year. Therefore, this section of the plan sets out the activities (identified at the time of writing) which are planned to be undertaken during 2026/27. Given staff resources, priority will be allocated to work on the basis of risk.

In planning this work, the following descriptions are used for premises requiring inspection:

Approved premises

In accordance with the code of practice every approved premises will receive a minimum of 1 official control verification intervention during the year (or equivalent if they are not demmed “OCV ready”).

OCV interventions are time consuming so a pre-audit questionnaire may be issued in advance of an OCV intervention in order to make the most efficient use of time.

This means a minimum of 30 OCV style interventions are scheduled to be made during 2026/27, subject to any new premises requiring approval.

There are several premises which are currently being supported through the process to gain approval status and this work will continue, although it is difficult to generally predict the resource required to assist each premises to gain approval, as this will depend upon the nature of activity and level of current compliance.

Work with approved premises is deemed a priority for the coming year.

Programmed interventions

For the year 2026/27 and based on current MIS data, 104 premises throughout Orkney are scheduled to require a programmed risk-based intervention.

The distribution of these premises across the risk categories is shown below. Interventions are scheduled by month, but this is not an even distribution so for efficiency purposes premises can be “brought forward” as convenient.

The distribution of these premises by island is:

There are no premises in the other groups and bands scheduled for programmed inspection this year.

Additionally, a number of manufacturing premises, that are not required to be approved, have been identified as benefiting from an OCV style approach to intervention. This is because of the nature of the manufacturing activity, risk profile or economic significance and this approach may be used where helpful. (eg distilleries, brewers, larger bakeries). It is noted that FSS encourage this approach where resources allow.

Rolled over premises

For a number of reasons it was not possible to fully complete all the programmed food law interventions for 2025-26, meaning 23 premises have been rolled over to be completed in 2026-27.

Backlog or “legacy” premises

Although inroads have been made there remains a considerable backlog of premises requiring an intervention. This is due to legacy issues, staff shortages and the covid19 pandemic. Having reviewed the backlog of premises and keeping in mind the geography of Orkney, seasonality of trade and transport efficiencies this plan advocates a geographical approach to clearing the backlog. At the time of writing the backlog of premises still due for inspection is as follows:

The intention being that when an officer visits one of the isles for a programmed intervention, they would also attend to any legacy premises on that island that need a visit – subject to time constraints, particularly arising from transport links.

Service requests, infectious disease and food poisoning

Based on the data available for 2025/26 the service would expect to deal with approximately 300 food law related service requests and 45 cases of infectious disease. Service requests will be dealt with on the basis of risk priority and public health significance, and it may be that visits and inspections need to be prioritised over service requests.

Support to new, existing and developing businesses

It is anticipated that throughout the year the service will be approached for advice on all aspects of compliance with food law. Experience shows this can be from existing business, those that are expanding or from individuals wishing to start up a new business. As well as environmental health and trading standards working together, we intend to try and build stronger links with the Council’s economic development team to ensure the council operates a joined-up approach to business support.

Sampling

The Council expects to participate in a food sampling programme, with samples being procured for the purposes of microbiological examination and chemical analysis. Priority will be given to relevant foods on the FSS national sampling programme.

Food safety promotion

The Council is not intending to run any food hygiene training during the year. Training courses are available locally, for example through Orkney College and other providers.

Throughout the year opportunities will be taken to make proactive media/information releases to deliver food safety messages. It is anticipated these will focus on:

• Food business registration/approval.
• Food hygiene information scheme.
• Additionally it is anticipated that reactive media releases will be made as the situation demands, for example in relation to particular food/allergy alerts.

Licensing consultations

The service anticipates a small number of applications for section 39 and section 50 certificates throughout the year. The service is also a consultee for short term lets licences and this has identified a number of food premises that are required to be registered.

Staff training and development

It is expected that the requirement for all Authorised Food Officers undertake a minimum of 10 hours food related continuous professional development (CPD) during the year, and individual training needs are discussed and agreed with each Authorised Officer with a view to ensuring that sufficient time and capacity is allowed to achieve this minimum requirement.

Additionally, as part of the Council’s commitment to a sustainable workforce, the Council will during the year continue to support Technical Officers in becoming trained and qualified as Environmental Health Officers.

Port health

The Orkney Islands are the UK’s most popular cruise ship destination with many cruise ship visits planned to call this year. Our approach is to visit all ships on their first calling within Orkney. Additionally, there are requests expected throughout the year for ship sanitation inspections and the issuing of ship sanitation certificates. This includes vessels such as tugs, tankers and oil rigs. Port health work places considerable demands on the service, especially during the “cruise season” where out of hours work becomes even more of a necessity to support the 24-7 nature of harbour operations. It will only be possible to deliver a full service once the (new) vacant post of Environmental Health Technical Officer – Port Health has been recruited or an alternative service delivery model identified.

Management information system and database

Whilst considerable work has been undertaken to update the MIS, it has become apparent that the data held on the MIS is not consistent with other datasets. Work has been undertaken to check premises are correctly held within the datasets and also to triangulate with data held on other council systems to avoid any missing premises. Unfortunately, the databases are not efficiently linked and in some cases rely on manual intervention to update the data and whilst confidence in the system has improved there may well still be some latent errors. A report run at the time of preparing this service plan revealed 22 errors that needed to be checked. These have been resolved.

Summary of inspections and interventions due for 2026-27 based on MIS data

Staffing Allocation and resources

Resources required

The current staff structure is shown in appendix 1.

In accordance with instructions from FSS a revised resource calculation has been undertaken using the methods prescribed by FSS. The input data comprises spreadsheets extracted from the MIS, a review of last year’s caseload and a prediction of likely work for the coming year. Although the resource calculation is subject to a number of variables, assumptions and “unknowns” it provides an indication of resources needed by the Council to deliver its responsibilities as a Food Authority. This includes estimates for travel, keeping in mind the geography of Orkney.

For the year 2026/27 the resource calculation suggests the Council is under-resourced to deliver its food law responsibilities by the equivalent of 1.49 FTE officers. This is broadly in line with the findings of an FSS audit of the Council in 2022 which has previously been reported to Senior Management, and identified on the Service risk register.

Clearly, if recruitment can be successful to the post of Environmental Health Technical Officer – Port Health this would help meet the resource need. Two important assumptions need to be taken into account when considering resources. (a) the resource calculation assumes the vacant post of EHO will be filled – (this is a sound assumption as the appointment paperwork is being finalised at the time of writing) and (b) the FTE post of Food Safety Officer is assumed to cover the full range of food law work. This is a false assumption as the FSO is at present only authorised for group 2 and group 3 non manufacturing premises.

The key resource requirements being:

This does not include management and administrative support or detailed follow up work from inspections and the complexities associated with enforcement actions or emergency interventions. It does not include resources needed in connection with trading standards work, staff training (other than mandatory CPD) or work required in connection with port health functions.

Resources available

Given the size of the team and the need to ensure flexibility and resilience within the team, the calculation of full-time equivalents is subject to a degree of uncertainty and is therefore less than helpful when making comparisons or undertaking benchmarking; however, it can be used to make an assessment in accordance with the FSS methodology to give an indication if there is an adequate resource available to deliver the council’s responsibilities as a Food Authority which is a statutory requirement under the Food Safety Act 1990.

As the team is not just responsible for the delivery of food work, the table below shows the approximate percentage of time available.

Therefore, according to the method provided by FSS the resource calculation suggests the Council requires as a minimum an additional 1.49 FTE to adequately deliver its food law functions for the year 2026/27. However, this assumes that there is no difference in levels of authorisation between officers and the resource calculation is naturally subjective. In reality a resource review is needed to be undertaken on a regular basis in light of officers gaining additional qualifications and the wider needs of the service.

As part of the council’s commitment to “growing its own talent” the service is supporting a Technical Officer to graduate as an EHO. This officer is currently an experienced food law officer, however, once qualified they will take on additional duties, meaning the time available for them to deliver food law work will be greatly reduced.

In terms of administrative and management support the resource calculation shows there is adequate resource in place to support Food Authority functions, keeping in mind that the manager and administrative officer work across all aspects of environmental health.

Staff Development Plan

Officers are responsible for managing their own Continuous Professional Development requirements and identifying opportunities to meet their needs. These are discussed at regular one2ones with the Service Manager to ensure that:

• All staff involved in food safety/standards interventions are appropriately qualified for the interventions they are authorised to undertake and have sufficient time allowed for training, including as a minimum the 10 hours a year requirements.
• Staff involved in the seizure or assessment of foods by inspection are Environmental Health Officers or Authorised Officers with specialist qualifications in food inspection.
• All staff involved in delivery of interventions at approved premises and higher risk manufacturers have completed the Official Control Verification (OCV) course.
• The Council has a budget available for staff training and development and every member of staff discusses and identifies their training needs at a yearly development review with the service manager.

In recognition of the national shortage of environmental health staff, the Council has made a commitment to a “grow your own programme” to support technical officers in qualifying as environmental health officers. The investment of time needed from colleagues to assist with such officer training is not included in the resource calculation but is considered worthwhile in order to help provide a sustainable workforce to meet the Council’s duties.

Financial Allocation

The environmental health budget does not contain separate budget lines relating to food service activities. The budget for the financial year 2026/27 covering all environmental health activities is shown in appendix 2. However, the Council is under considerable financial pressure in order to achieve a sustainable budget and all managers have been reminded that they must keep within the allocated budget.

Quality Assessment

The Service has a historic “Quality Management System” (QMS) for a variety of regulatory activities; the Service Manager and Lead Food Officer have formed the opinion this is now very outdated and in need of review and replacement. This task was included in the Environmental Health service plan, with a view to replacing the QMS system with a smaller number of meaningful procedure documents and maximising the functionality of the Civica APP system. This will take account of the new approaches to Food Law interventions and Official Control Verification. This is a significant piece of work and remains ongoing.

Review

The Service Plan will be reviewed on an annual basis following the end of each financial year and a “review of the year” and deviations from the service plan will be included in the service plan for the next year.

Section 4: Review of 2025-2026

Review of the year 2025/6

Notable activities throughout the year

The year 2025-26 was another busy year and key notable activities in relation to food law work are described below. They are not presented in any priority order.

Staff have been supported to commence training as Environmental Health Officers as part of the Council’s commitment to “grow our own talent” and to help create a sustainable workforce, these studies are bearing fruit with excellent marks being achieved in the assessments and exams to date.

All officers undertook relevant continuous professional development (CPD) to either refresh existing knowledge and skills or acquire new relevant skills.

Support was provided to the organisers and venues involved in hosting the international island games.

The necessary protocols were completed to enable staff to make reports to COPFS using the SRA2 system.

Training was provided in connection with the role of the Reviewing Officer under the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 s164 code of practice.

Successful growth was achieved to create a new post covering port health and food law duties, however recruitment was unsuccessful.

The service has acted on food alerts for action (FAFA notifications) where they have impacted local businesses and have ensured that both local and national companies take the appropriate action. The service has also been instrumental in acting with Food Standards Scotland when we have identified an issue of concern requiring a recall or withdrawal of a locally produced food.

In a recent case the Authority was contacted by a partner regulator identifying a concern with a business. The manufacturer concerned had neither registered nor communicated with the service regarding their operation. The resultant intervention closed down the operation and recalled the products from the market.

A sampling project focussing on the microbiological quality of stored water used in mobile catering vehicles was undertaken.

We have contacted harvesters and fishing boats to ensure our data remains up to date and to remind operators of the requirements for documentation, especially where they are supplying approved exporting businesses.

The service has also supported the shellfish and crustacea trade by sampling products in line with the new EU requirement on levels of arsenic found naturally in products. This was to identify a base level for the waters around Orkney and samples were taken of all the key exported shellfish and crustacea. At the time of writing results are expected, and any elevated levels will be notified to the trade so that they can identify and take any additional steps to ensure food safety.

Unfortunately, the resignation of an EHO, sickness absence, staff capability and the necessary allocation of resources to two accident investigations have impacted on the work of the team during the year.

Key data

Officers have been active throughout the year delivering food safety interventions as well as providing support to local businesses and advice to the public.

Key data from the management information system (MIS) for the year includes:

Enforcement notices served

Review against the previous service plan priorities

The table below shows the status of work that was identified in the 2025/26 Food Service plan.

Section 5: Planned work 2026/27

Planned work in 2026/27

As well as the actions detailed in the Environmental Health Team Plan 2026/27, the following food specific priority areas of work have been identified to be undertaken in the year.

• Review team structure and service delivery in light of current staff resources, risks and service delivery priorities. taking into account the FSS guidance and availability of competent staff to undertake the work.
• Review approaches to food export health certificates to make sure an appropriate service is being provided, including utilising existing staff capabilities.
• Review staff responsibilities to ensure continued support to the MIS system admin function.
• Review capacity to deliver OCV and the readiness of businesses to respond to OCV interventions.
• Review QMS procedures relating to food law and write new procedures as required.
• Provide a refresher course on preparation of statutory notices.
• Endeavour to perform a first contact intervention with a new food business within 28 days of a food business registration form being received.
• Review of the electronic information and accessibility of guidance provided by the service on the website (part of corporate website review).
• To design and implement an officer peer review scheme undertake further officer exercises to ensure service consistency in enforcement approach and advice.

Section 6: Additional Information

Glossary

Appendix 1

Structure chart for Orkney Islands Council Environmental Health

IMAGE: The structure chart shows Orkney Islands Council Environmental Health, with the Environmental Health email address Environmental.health@orkney.gov.uk and extension 2801. The Head of Planning & Regulatory Services and Chief Planning Officer is shown above the Service Manager – Environmental Health. The chart includes Environmental Health Officer (and Lead Food Officer), Food Safety Officer, Environmental Health Technical Officer – Port Health, Environmental Health TO/EHO – Food Law (+ trainee EHO), Licensing Standards Officer (alcohol), Environmental Health Officer, Environmental Health Technical Officer, Environmental Health TO/EHO Environmental Protection, and Environmental Health Technical Officer (acoustics) (Part time). Vacancies are marked for the Port Health officer, an Environmental Health Officer, an Environmental Health Technical Officer, and the Sampling Officer. The chart also identifies a Designated Local Authority Competent Person under the Public Health etc (Scotland) Act 2008, a Port Health Officer, a Licensing Standards Officer, a Health and Safety Inspector, a Clerical Support Officer and a Sampling Officer. Version: March 2026.

Appendix 2. EH Budget

IMAGE: The budget statement is headed “Budget Holder Provisional Budget Statement 2026-2027” for “R29010000 ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH”, with Nick Long as budget holder. It lists revised baseline, inflation, service pressure, efficiency savings, finance settlement, final adjustment and provisional budget figures for staff costs, supplies and services, transport, vessel and plant, administration, apportioned costs, third-party payments, miscellaneous costs, total expenditure, fees and charges, total income and net expenditure. The provisional budget totals are £881,500 for total expenditure, £42,200 for total income and £839,300 for net expenditure.