Residents in East Cambridgeshire are been given the opportunity to have their say on the Food and Health and Safety enforcement policies in the area.
 
The District Council's Commercial Team are responsible for:
 
• enforcing food safety legislation in around 880 premises
• registering and keeping an up to date register of food businesses
• approving establishments that require approval and ensuring these feature on the Food Standards Agency website
• following up complaints about food sold or manufactured and concerns about food hygiene in the district
• taking samples of food, water and the environment for microbiological examination and chemical analysis
 
They also responsible for a number of Health and Safety areas which include:
 
• enforcing health and safety law at premises where the Local Authority has powers to take action  
• following up complaints about health and safety in workplaces
• investigating accidents
• Issuing and the enforcement of skin piercing legislation in around 20 premises.
• provide training on health and safety
 
In order for this work to continue to meet the highest standards, the local authority is consulting on the Draft Food Safety Enforcement Policy and the Draft Health and Safety Policy.
 
The consultation has been running for a number of weeks but there is still time to feedback before it ends on Friday 31 July at www.eastcambs.gov.uk/food-safety/food-safety-service.
 
Liz Knox, Environmental Services Manager at East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: "Every day, the dedicated officers here at the council work to ensure the hundreds of outlets selling food in East Cambridgeshire are safe and that Health and Safety legislation is being followed. This can be through registering new businesses, investigating incidents or following up complaints. To ensure we are continuing to meet the needs of residents and businesses, we are a holding a consultation on our enforcement policies. It is really important you have your say so please read our draft plans and let us know what you think by 31 July.”
 
Anyone participating in the consultation can either email the completed forms to consultationfhs@eastcambs.gov.uk or send then to: Environmental Services, East Cambridgeshire District Council, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, Cambs, CB7 4EE.