Food hygiene ratings overdue for 2,000 eateries

West Northamptonshire Council cited the Covid pandemic as the reason for the backlog

More than 2,000 food hygiene inspections in a county's restaurants, cafes and takeaways are overdue, a local authority has revealed.

West Northamptonshire Council is responsible for carrying out inspections on all food premises, with the highest risk locations required to have a visit at least every six months.

However, the council's food safety team has been unable to address a backlog of 2,061 food hygiene inspections, including 585 new, unrated premises that have never received an official visit by an inspector.

A meeting of the Reform UK-controlled authority heard that the significant backlog was a result of inspections not taking place throughout the Covid lockdowns.

The report was relayed to councillors at the authority's cabinet meeting on Monday.

In 2024-25, just 973 inspections and interventions were carried out, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council indicated that the total number required to take place from April 2025 to March 2026 is almost 2,500.

Requested action

Andrew Last, the authority's cabinet member for HR, corporate services and regulatory services, told the meeting that the Food Standards Agency had requested the development of a time-bound action plan to address its concerns about the backlog.

Last explained the service currently operates on an intelligence-led system to tackle community concerns over premises, but that the authority was looking to train up another four apprentices to strengthen its capacity over a three-year plan.

"That approach is welcomed by the Food Standard Agency as a sure way of tackling the backlog," he said.

Sally Keeble, the Labour group leader at the authority, told cabinet members that she was "really concerned" about the backlog of inspections, which coincided with an increase in the number of food complaints and foodborne infectious diseases.

The number of complaints about food and hygiene safety in west Northamptonshire rose from 301 complaints in 2023-24 to 386 in 2024-25.

These could include anything from foreign objects in food - such as wood, metal, insects or mould - to undercooked food, employees wearing a lack of protective clothing or a lack of hand washing.

The number of infectious disease cases also rose from 245 to 274 in the same period.

Keeble said it would be helpful to have a progress report come back to members to show how the issue was being tackled.