By the end of 2011/12, against the 2010/11 baseline budget of £118m, costs have been reduced by £27m. This represents cash savings of £8m (16%) in administration and £19m (28%) in programme expenditure.
While making these savings, the FSA has continued to deliver on its objective of ensuring safer food for the nation.
The FSA has accelerated the roll-out of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Food Hygiene Information Scheme in Scotland. These initiatives enable consumers to access information on the hygiene standards of places where they eat out or buy food. Local authority participation in the schemes gained real momentum in 2011/12, with 94% of local authorities in the UK now running the schemes or making a commitment to do so.
During the past 12 months, the FSA has made food-safety preparations for London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games a priority. An FSA team has been set up to ensure a coordinated approach to improving food hygiene standards through the FHRS and the FSA’s Safer food, better business food hygiene management system. FSA grant-funding of £1.5m has helped local authorities undertake additional inspections and food sampling.
As part of its core work, the FSA handled 1,787 food-safety incidents during 2011/12, an increase of 187 on the previous year. Six of these were 'high-level' incidents that had the potential to cause deaths, serious injury or generate widespread concern. Several originated outside of the UK.
