Finance & Legislation
For “Scores on the Doors” read “Food Hygiene Rating Scheme”
The Food Standards Agency informed all Local Authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on 19 August about the local launches of the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS), its branding and other developments.
This title has been chosen to replace what had been known as the Scores on the Doors scheme. The FHRS schemes objective is to “help consumers choose where to eat out or shop for food by giving them information about the hygiene standards in restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways, hotels, supermarkets, and other places they eat out and buy food”. All 22 Local Authorities in Wales are planning to roll-out the scheme from 1 October.
In line with the findings of independent research with consumers (but not with the tourism industry in Wales?), the national scheme will be called the ‘Food Hygiene Rating Scheme’ and ratings will be shown on a simple numeric scale. The FSA claims that the newly designed branding that has now been published makes it easy for consumers to understand and use food hygiene ratings.
The Agency also announced that the IT system, including the online consumer search facility and the local authority data upload system, is now in the testing phase. The search facility will allow consumers to search for hygiene ratings of businesses in areas where the scheme is run.
Rob Wilkins for the FSA in Wales, stated that it is now focusing on drawing up guidance on use of the FHRS branding, on data requirements, and on the formal ‘sign up’ process for participating local authorities; they aim to finalise this guidance at the end of the month.
He said “We remain conscious that the success of the scheme depends on local authority participation and we are continuing to add to the support package for them. We have updated resource materials, we are developing a ‘Communications Toolkit’ and we have launched a second round of grant funding for ‘early adopters’.
The scheme is a key element for the Agency in meeting its strategic objective to improve food safety and we would like to re-emphasise our commitment to it – not just now in getting it set up but also in the future and working in partnership with local authorities and with the food industry to ensure its long tern success.”
For the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme update (Wales): August 2010 as sent to Local Authorities and interested parties in Wales, go to:-
http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/enforcement/fhrsupdateaugust2010wales.pdf
For details of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme branding, see:-http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/fhrsbrandingency.pdf
The WTA will obviously closely monitor developments with this scheme and will appreciate information from your area; comments please to adrian@wta.org.uk.
Bank of England’s Agents’ Summary for August
• The Agents reported that business confidence across a wide range of industries had ebbed in recent months. Many contacts attributed the fall in confidence to the announcements made in the June Budget, although few contacts had changed their plans for output, investment or employment as a result.
• Consumer spending growth had softened over the past few months, reflecting weaker retail sales growth.
• The number of housing market transactions had also eased back.
• Investment intentions remained consistent with a gradual, rather than robust, rise in spending.
• Exports had picked up further, driven by a pickup in world demand.
• Services turnover had edged higher, although volume growth in the professional and financial sector was likely stronger than growth in turnover, reflecting lower prices and fees than a year earlier.
• Manufacturing output growth had been robust through Q2, reflecting stronger export growth and, to a lesser extent, increases in output for the domestic market.
• Construction activity remained subdued. Despite a rise in repair and maintenance, commercial construction activity remained weak, and some public sector projects had been postponed or cancelled.
• Private sector employment intentions had risen modestly in recent months. But contacts expected offsetting cuts in public sector headcount over the next year or so.
• Pay growth remained muted, albeit a little stronger than at the start of 2010. Many non-labour input costs had risen further.
• Contacts reported that imported goods price inflation had edged up, due to higher inflation and some emerging capacity constraints in the Far East.
• Annual consumer price inflation remained elevated in July, as weaker goods price inflation was offset by a modest rise in services price inflation.
It remained too early to assess definitively the impact of the announced rise in VAT. But initial findings suggested that, on balance, contacts expected to pass through much of the rise early in January 2011.
Consumer services turnover had, on balance, edged higher through Q2 and into July. Domestic tourism contacts in particular reported strong demand, with more residents choosing to holiday in the United Kingdom in recent months. Nonetheless, trading conditions remained tough for many contacts in a wider range of consumer services industries, as consumers remained focused on value and unusually sensitive to pricing points.
The following link is to a pdf file for the Summary in full:-http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/agentssummary/agsum10aug.pdf
Funding for St Fagans and the Owain Glyndwr Centre
The Minister for Heritage, Alun Ffred Jones, announced on 26 August £1m of new funding for St Fagans National History Museum.
The open-air museum has seen strong visitor figures during the summer, and was also recently voted one of the top 10 free sites across the UK by users of leading web-rating site Trip Advisor. The Museum’s popularity with visitors over the years has placed a strain on the site’s infrastructure.
The funding, following on from £400,000 last year from WAG, will enable the Museum to carry out essential maintenance and crucial modernisation works across the site such as upgrading electrical and water capacity.
Although much of the investment will not be immediately visible to the public, it is vital in terms of maintaining St Fagans’ iconic status as a must-see destination – at the heart of Welsh tourism.
Alun Ffred Jones said “We are keen to ensure that St Fagan’s maintains its position at the heart of Welsh cultural life and its status as Wales’ premier free tourist attraction. It is vital that this much cherished national institution is upgraded and improved in order to present a modern, confident and diverse image of Wales to visitors.”
This work will also lay the foundations for the longer term wider re-development of the site by ensuring that the site is able to support new galleries and visitor services which are planned. This long-term project received a recent boost with the announcement of a £450,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the Museum to work up more detailed plans.
This would see the introduction of the National Archaeology Collection and an extended time-line to cover the 250,000 years of human inhabitation of Wales. There would be significant investment in interpretation across the site and the creation of a new indoor space in the grounds, providing an important all-weather facility away from the existing main building. The existing galleries and visitor facilities would also be upgraded.
It is anticipated that the re-developed St Fagans will provide a major economic boost both during the construction phases and for the wider tourist economy.
Today, St Fagans has over 40 original buildings, moved from various parts of Wales and re-erected to show different periods in history. It is Wales’s most popular visitor attraction and the second most visited open-air museum in Europe, attracting over 600,000 visits a year.
Cadw has announced a £275k grant to the Owain Glyndwr Centre in Machynlleth which stands on the site of the Glyndwr’s Parliament built in around 1460. The funding will be used to help restore the fabric of the Grade I listed Parliament House which is the venue for the Centre; the Centre has also applied for £2.5m funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
WAG’s Waste Strategy Unit - consultation and plans
The Welsh Assembly Government’s Waste Strategy Unit municipal sector plan is currently out for consultation; go to: - http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/environmentandcountryside/municipalsector/?lang=en
The Waste Strategy Unit is also proceeding with a retail sector plan and has now revised the scope to include the hospitality sector. Towards Zero Waste - http://wales.gov.uk/topics/environmentcountryside/epq/waste_recycling/zerowaste/?lang=en
“New figures show that the carrier bag charge is the only way to make a real difference”
New figures prove that a charge on carrier bags is essential if we are to make a real difference to the number of bags used in Wales says Environment Minister, Jane Davidson.
The Minister was speaking about new figures published today by the waste reduction organisation Wrap, that show that whilst carrier bag use across the UK is continuing to drop the rate of improvement is slowing down. The figures do show a slightly more encouraging picture for Wales because whilst improvement levels are down in most parts of the UK, they are still on the up in Wales.
The Minister said “The carrier bag charge will give us the incentive we need to keep improving in this area and I am confident that once the charge is implemented, Wales’ performance will increase dramatically.
Indeed the figures show that Wales is already doing slightly better than the rest of the UK and I think this is down not only to continuing efforts of retailers and people across Wales but also to discussion, publicity and general momentum that is gathering across Wales ahead of the introduction of the carrier bag charge in the spring.”