Is the FSA a truly independent Government Department?

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) board and business meeting of 15th June this year revealed in their Covid -19 pandemic post recovery plan that there are still 51,633 businesses in England and Wales awaiting inspection under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS). This was in their fourth quarter report.
 
For many years Local authorities have generally been cash strapped and under resourced, therefore causing a shortage of Environmental Health officers.  
 
In relation to meat hygiene inspectors and vets, there is also a shortage that was known about prior to Covid, but this issue was never addressed. The Agency plan to bring more of these staff in house, as where this is was out sourced they now have to pay their service delivery partners far more than was every intended, or what was in the original contract. This is despite them being warned years ago that this could occur. 
 
The FSA board are now concerned about Government cuts to the Civil Service and they have been asked to model reductions of their staff by 20%, 30% & 40%.
 
This is very unfortunate for the average Civil Servant as they generally do a good job, but it is ironic as the Board and senior management hardly raised the roof previously about the other shortages mentioned above, which one might think they could do if they were independent.
 
When I mentioned funding with their chair in September last year in a video type call, as they were doing extra work due to Brexit etc, I was encouraged to support them, but now I have learned that their budget was underspent for the last two years, which is very surprising as there is so much this money could have been used for to help protect the consumer. This may not be the fault of the new Chair but it does raise some questions about the Board and the Executive Team.
 
At this board meeting they discussed a bill going through parliament about Genetically edited food called “The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill”. 

When the Department of Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) ran a consultation last year on removing regulations on genetically engineered/modified organisms such as gene editing, approximately 85% of the respondents stated they had concerns about this.
 
The FSA stated at this latest meeting that they have no intention to label such products as modified to enable the consumer to make an informed choice, yet they keep on saying they want the consumer to be able to make an informed choice. Surely, they are contradicting what is meant to be one of their core values?  
 
In relation to genetically engineered/modified organisms, a considerable number of people are concerned about its traceability, the impact on the environment and about traditional farming.  
 
What is the point of Government departments consulting when they don’t listen to what the majority of respondents say?  Is consultation just about discussing but not listening?
 
Currently imports into the UK are not required to be checked which should be a concern in relation to food safety. As an example, this year there was an outbreak of Salmonella linked to Kinder chocolate products. 122 people were affected in the UK by this global outbreak.
This is why Border Control and testing of food products is required,
 
The Government do not now intend to introduce Border Controls until 2023. This continued delay has resulted in port authority staff being hired but having little work to do and uncertainty as to whether their jobs are going to be required. This is the responsibility of Defra.
 
This also puts people who export from this country at a disadvantage as they are having to fill out considerable amounts of paperwork to export, whilst their competitors abroad just get their goods waved into this country.
 
The FSA was set up in 2000 as prior to this we had Mad Cow Disease which the government and their scientific advisors at that time got completely wrong in regards to the dangers. It was meant to be independent due to these mistakes not just to be there to follow Government policies.
 
If they are there solely to follow government policies there is no need to have a Chair or a Board as you could have a Government Minister responsible for running the Agency.

The reason I believe there is no Government Minister in charge at the present time is that after politicians getting their fingers burnt with Mad Cow disease, they can blame someone else if things go wrong.
 
Some people would argue that with a Government Minister you could get rid of them if they are no good at the ballot box if not removed beforehand as opposed to having an unelected Board running the Agency.
 
Three people die due to a Listeria outbreak
 It has been reported that three people over the age of 65 have died in an ongoing Listeria outbreak linked to fish in the United Kingdom.
All together it is reported that 12 people across the UK have been identified, including 3 in Scotland., This outbreak appears to have occurred between October 2020 to March 2022.

One is a pregnant woman and of the remainder, 10 appear to be over the age of 65. (Some of the most vulnerable groups in our society). Six people have fallen ill since January 2022. The majority of patients reported eating smoked fish. 

£1.5 Million fine for cheese company
The Dairy Crest Ltd plant at Davidstow, Cornwall, who produce Cathedral City, Clover and Country Life, was fined £1.52m last Thursday for pollution which was over a 5-year period up to 2021.
 
It was reported that the odours were so bad that they stopped residents
from sleeping properly and in some cases gave them headaches and vision problems.
 
It was further reported that there was waste discharged on several occasions into the River Inny which caused the death of fish.
Link to this story below:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-61914566
 
Please keep sharing the Petition, as all food safety is important no matter what you choose to eat.

Thank you for your continued help and support and stay safe.