HUNDREDS of restaurants, bars, shops and school kitchens in our region have gone years without formal hygiene inspections as cuts leave city bosses with reduced resources.

National guidance says inspections should be carried out between every six months and every three years, depending on a venue’s risk level, but some in York have been waiting for almost a decade and there are backlogs across the region.

Costa Coffee in Market Street in the centre of York was re-inspected in September, for the first time since 2007. Nine other establishments have still not been inspected since 2007, including Naburn and Heworth Primary Schools, and 70 venues have not been visited since 2008.

>> Ratings for any business can be seen on the Food Standards Agency website, or on the Scores On The Doors website. The latter enables a local area's results to be sorted by date.

In total, the Scores On The Doors website lists 1,796 establishments in York that should be inspected, but the data for 503 of those (28 per cent) is more than three years old.

The data is more than three years old for:

  • 503 of 1,796 venues in York (28 per cent)
  • 98 of 549 in Ryedale (18 per cent)
  • 40 out of 583 in Selby District (seven per cent)
  • 106 out of 738 in Hambleton (14 per cent)
  • 203 out of 1,404 in Harrogate District (14 per cent)
  • 83 out of 1,516 in the Scarborough Borough Council area (five per cent)
  • 221 out of 2,753 in the East Riding of Yorkshire (eight per cent) 
  • TOTAL: 1,254 out of 9,339 (13 per cent) - although it is possible a small number in each area may have since closed.

City of York Council said it took action against persistent hygiene offenders and focused its resources on the lowest-scoring premises, as councils are encouraged to do by the Food Standards Agency.

The official records suggest most of those waiting longest in York did score highly last time, although some higher-risk venues have also faced significant waits. The Taj Mahal in King’s Staith received a rating of one out of five in June 2014, but was not then re-checked until last month, when it received the same score.

York Press:

Matt Boxall from City of York Council, and the Taj Mahal

Many pubs and shops with a rating of two, which means ‘improvement necessary’, have not been re-checked since 2014.

National guidance says councils were told to use a scoring system to assess a venue’s risk level, and to arrange visits ranging from every six months for the highest risk, to a programme of alternative enforcement strategies or interventions every three years for hygiene and every five years for standards, which relates to other issues such as whether businesses are serving what it claims to be.

York Press:

A spokeswoman for the Foods Standards Agency said alternative strategies were used for low-risk premises, such as pharmacists that might sell a small range of confectionery or childminders who provide snacks.

She said: “These will have had an initial visit, but for these the local authority typically uses questionnaires, with a sample of businesses receiving a follow-up visit to verify the information provided.

"The FSA sets the criteria overall, however, it’s up to local authorities to use the criteria to rate the level of risk of the premises and determine the frequency of inspections.”

Matt Boxall, head of public protection at York council, said: “Many of these premises have a longer lead time because they are lower risk.Like most local authorities, we focus our resources on the lowest-scoring premises and take enforcement action against those which persistently fail to meet standards or address issues identified.”

Dr Lisa Ackerley, Food Safety Advisor at British Hospitality Association said: "It is shocking that businesses are having to wait for such a long time to be revisited. BHA members have also reported similar issues and we are currently in talks with the Food Standards Agency.

"As the Food Hygiene Ratings Scheme is becoming very popular with consumers to inform choice the BHA believe it must be fair.

“The scheme states that a business cannot request a revisit till three months has passed after the rating visit, and that the local authority will then revisit within a further three months.

"Waiting this long means that businesses who have improved may be shown to have an old rating, or they may have a rating that belongs to previous owners. Before mandatory display can be brought in, the BHA wants to see timely revisits, better consistency of rating and a fairer appeals process.”