Food Standards Agency Operations

I would like to let you know about the announcement I made today to FSA staff about changes to our field management structure.

This is the result of a review of the structure in order to:
• ensure the Agency is in the right position to deliver on its priorities
• reduce operational delivery costs by £5.5 million by 2015, a commitment given in the consultation on meat charging,
• ensure the FSA is in a position to meet the needs of the industry now andin the future, and
• ensure the field management structure reflects the UK and meets the needs of the devolved governments.

These changes will be in place and effective by April 2012:

1. We will move to a geographic structure that reflects devolution and follows country boundaries. England will be further broken down to four areas, to ensure a consistent allocation of work comparable to the devolved countries. The management lines will reflect Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and four areas in England. Additional management support will be provided in England at a more operational level to reflect the size and scale of operations.

2. Employed FSA field staff will be managed by employed FSA managers, ensuring accountability and responsibility for leadership remains within the FSA. This change relieves the Official Veterinarian (OV) role of teamleader responsibilities allowing OVs to focus more on technical leadership, compliance and animal welfare.

3. The Lead Veterinarian (LV) role will be developed to focus on technical support and veterinary leadership within field management. Our preference is to employ all LVs within the new structure.

4. The Senior Meat Hygiene Inspector (SMHI) role will be consolidated to enhance front-line management. The role will continue to focus on resourcing, but will be broadened to include line management of staff,financial responsibility and stakeholder engagement.

5. A new role of Supervisory MHI will be introduced to support management within large teams and or in plants with a poor compliance history. The role will largely be line based, but will help support management of staff and act as a local contact.

6. There are no planned changes to MHIs numbers as a result of this review.

However, having reviewed the age profile of our staff, we have recognised that there is a need to recruit and train MHIs subject to business needs. It is not my intention to increase the overall number of inspectors deployed by FSA.

Overall, the changes I wish to introduce will enable Operations to provide a more efficient and effective business while delivering £1 .3million savings per annum, which will contribute to the £5.5 million annual reduction the FSA has committed to by 2015.

A project team has now been established to oversee the implementation of changes and detailed plans are being made. We will endeavour to keep you informed of progress but in the interim please speak to your business manager if you want to find out how this will affect staff working in your plants.

I believe the new structure will improve the delivery of controls and build on the success already achieved in our sector to ensure safe food for the public.

Yours sincerely
Andrew Rhodes
Director of Operations
Food Standards Agency