Scores on Doors

From January 2008 Bromsgrove District Council’s “Scores on Doors” food business star rating scheme will go live. The scheme allows members of the public to see the results of the last food hygiene inspection in the form of a hygiene star rating for restaurants and other catering businesses in the district which have been inspected since August 2007.

You can search for premises of interest from the ratings for food businesses.  (116.84 KB)

Currently, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the public have the right to request information on inspections of all food premises within the district and have access to any reports that were produced. The scheme allows residents to see the information they are legally entitled to receive in a manner which is easy to understand. Similar and successful schemes have been used in the USA, Denmark and Canada and many local authorities in the UK now have such a scheme in place.

Benefits to the public

We hope that the scheme will drive up standards of food safety within premises and give the public the opportunity to make an informed choice about where they choose to eat or buy food, based on food safety and hygiene standards.

Benefits to the food business

The scheme serves as a good advertisement for those food businesses that practice high standards of food hygiene; this in turn may lead to an increase in business and reward food business operators for their effort.

How the scheme works

When one of the Council’s Environmental Health Officers carries out a full food hygiene inspection, the food business is given a score for the standard of hygiene found during the visit. The score is used to determine how often food premises are inspected. The frequency of inspection is calculated using a national risk rating system produced by the Food Standards Agency.

The scoring system

The Council is implementing a 5 star award scheme based on parts of the “Food Law - Code of Practice”. This scheme has been adopted county-wide within Herefordshire and Worcestershire by all of the local authorities involved.

Premises that are awarded 5 stars would be premises that presented the lowest food hygiene risk to its customers, premises not awarded any stars would represent premises with the poorest hygiene standards.

Each business is scored on the following criteria:

• Food hygiene and safety procedures - How hygienically the food is handled including temperature control
• Structure - The condition of the structure, cleanliness, layout of the premises, lighting and ventilation
• Confidence in management - The food business operator’s history of compliance with food hygiene law and evidence of a food safety management system

During the inspection each criteria is given a score. The total score for the three criteria described above is converted to a simple star rating:

Description	Award
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Broadly Compliant
Poor
Very Poor	No Stars

Food businesses are strongly encouraged to display their star rating in a front window or door where it can be seen easily.

There is no opportunity for food businesses to have their rating changed before the next inspection is due.

Appeals procedure

If a food business operator is unhappy with the star rating given to them they may appeal in writing to Ian Keagle, Team Leader (Commercial Regulation), Bromsgrove District Council, Burcot Lane, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, B60 1AA.

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