Aims and Objectives
This Food Service Plan is an expression of Wealden District Council’s continuing commitment to Food Hygiene. The mission statement for this service is to “Deliver an increasingly efficient and effective public health service which strives to promote and sustain a safe, prosperous community for businesses, residents and visitors.” This plan has been prepared in accordance with chapter 2 of the Food Law Code of Practice (2025).- The purpose of this plan is to set out how Wealden will deliver Official Controls within its area.
- This service plan notes paragraph 6 of The Regulators Code (published April 2014), which states that “Regulators should ensure their approach to their regulatory activities is transparent”.
- The food hygiene service of Wealden is informed by the principles of:
- Proportionately (in applying the law)
- Consistency (of approach)
- Targeting (of enforcement action)
- Transparency (about how we operate and what those regulated may expect)
- The food hygiene service contributes to Wealden’s District Council Strategy, specifically supporting the local economy as “we enjoy the advantages of quality of place, knowledge and skills of residents, and strong business sectors such as farming and food production”. The Wealden District Council Strategy
- Wealden has adopted an Equality Policy and the Environmental Health Service conducts equality monitoring.
- The Better Regulation Delivery Office placed food hygiene at Number 5 in their five priority regulatory outcomes for England (November 2011).
Background
Wealden – Profile
Population: 160,151 (ONS UK 2021) Area: 835 Km2 Wealden District is mainly a rural area with five urban centres: Crowborough, Hailsham, Heathfield, Polegate and Uckfield. As a District Council, Wealden is concerned only with food hygiene; the food standards and feeding stuffs function is delivered by East Sussex County Council (Trading Standards). Wealden enjoys some of the most unspoilt countryside in Southeast: the Ashdown Forest, the High Weald, parts of the South Downs, the Seven Sister cliffs, and Pevensey Levels. The District of Wealden contains pockets of rural, coastal, and urban living. The food businesses within the district reflects this mix.Wealden is a district of small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) with high rates of business ownership, lower closure rates (than the national average) and higher survival rates. Wealden-Economic-Development-Strategy-2023-2033-FINAL.pdf
Wealden District Council Structure
For more information see our Council Service Structure webpage. Decisions on food hygiene matters are delegated to the Cllr K Williams, Public Health, and Asset Management Portfolio Holder. Cllr Williams makes decisions on policy matters regarding food hygiene and communicates these to the Director of Place. The senior management structure of Wealden District Council is shown on the chart below. The Director of Place, Chris Bending, directs the Head of Environmental Health accordingly, Richard Parker- Harding. Council and Committee MeetingsWealden District Council Environmental Health Department Structure
This chart shows the structure for the Environmental Health service for Wealden District Council. A total of 21.75 full time officers are engaged in Environmental Health work for Wealden.
Recruitment to all parts of Environmental health has been difficult in recent years. To address our future need for qualified Environmental Health Officers, there are five officers working fulltime, who are also Environmental Health apprentices. Each apprentice is expected to qualify in the coming four years.
Food Hygiene Stakeholders
The food hygiene service of Wealden District Council is carried out by the members of the Food and Safety team, as part of the shared Environmental Health service and interlinks with UKHSA (United Kingdom Health Security Agency) neighbouring local authorities, Food Standards Agency and other bodies as shown below.
The scope of the team, in addition to food hygiene, is to advise on health and safety at work, investigate notifiable infectious diseases, regulate skin piercing, licence holiday caravan sites and residential mobile home sites, licence kennels and catteries, provide pest and dog control service and to risk assess private water supplies. We do not use contractors.
The service operates from the Civic Offices, Vicarage Lane, Hailsham from 8.30am – 5.00pm Monday to Friday. Planned out-of-hour work is undertaken and emergency calls are taken on our behalf by Conserv Care on 01424 787868, who will contact a manager if necessary.
Any complaints can be submitted to foodhs@rother.gov.uk, or calls will be taken by customer services on 01323 443322.
Enforcement Policy and Service Standards
Wealden Council adopted an Enforcement Policy for the shared Environmental Health Service in October 2014, Cabinet Minute 14/31 and is available at EHEnforcementPolicy.pdf (wealden.gov.uk) The Environmental Health service standards are at Environmental Health service standards and this service planFood Hygiene in Wealden District
The profile of food businesses operating within Wealden district on 10th April 2026.| Wealden Type of Food Premises | Number of Premises |
|---|---|
| Caring Premises | 173 |
| Distributor | 33 |
| Hotel | 34 |
| Manufacturer | 80 |
| Mobile | 73 |
| Producer | 6 |
| Pub/Club | 126 |
| Restaurant/Cafe | 265 |
| Caterer | 246 |
| Retailer | 69 |
| School/College | 75 |
| Small Retailer | 168 |
| Supermarket | 25 |
| Takeaway | 74 |
| Total | 1447 |
| Plus Unrated | 12 |
Demands on the Food Service
Within the profile of food businesses are twenty-one that are different because they use specialist techniques, produce a very high volume of food or they export food. Cheesemakers, on farm dairies producing milk, yogurt and cream, smokers of fish and meat, egg laying flocks of chickens with packing plants, making of charcuterie. These businesses must be approved before they can start to trade and require intensive input from the food service to do so.
Within the food and safety team are officers who hold specialist qualifications and experience/knowledge in the safe production of high-risk foods and actively support these approved businesses to thrive and grow.
There are other businesses which are seasonal, operating only in holiday periods – typically catering in tourist destinations and some which work only in the time before Christmas (turkey slaughter). Many high street businesses operate only in the evenings (takeaways). The food service inspects when the business is operational and does not usually make appointments.
The overwhelming majority of food businesses are cafes, restaurants and shops, public houses, school kitchens, care homes and hospitals. The service does not inspect each of these annually, instead it inspects according to risk and performance to make sure that the highest risk and the lowest performers receive the most attention.
Food Hygiene Intervention Ratings
The Food Standards Agency sets out a numerical scheme which local authorities must use at each food hygiene inspection, and this is used to determine.- When the next intervention will be (date)
- What the next intervention will be (inspection/partial inspection/alternative)
- Food hygiene rating
Category A and B (92+; 72+)
These are the highest risk food businesses and must be subject to an inspection, partial inspection, or audit at least every six months (A) and every 12 months with (B). It is Wealden’s policy that these businesses are fully inspected.Category C (52-71)
These medium risk businesses will receive an inspection, at eighteen months, if they are broadly compliant it will be a partial inspection; otherwise, a full inspection will be made.Category D (31+)
Category D premises are subject to an intervention every 24 months. Where they are rated 30 or 40 for “type of food”, these businesses must be subject to inspection, partial inspection, or audit. Where the premises is rated less than 30 for type of food etc. it can alternate between official controls. We inspect all category D’s, partial inspections for those that are broadly compliant.Category E (0-30)
The FSA advice on these lowest risk food businesses is that they could have an intervention every 36 months. It is our policy that these lowest risk food businesses are subject to a physical inspection or an alternative enforcement questionnaire every 36 months. For 2026/7, the first time, food businesses are expected to provide evidence of their food hygiene practices with their completed questionnaire online.Food Hygiene Rating Scheme
The food hygiene rating scheme was adopted by Wealden in April 2011 to provide information to consumers on the hygiene, structure, and management of a food business. At the end of an inspection the business is issued with one of the window stickers below. In England, the display of window stickers is not required by law, despite the fact it is mandatory in both Wales and Northern Ireland. All food hygiene ratings are published at. Search the Wealden area | Food Standards Agency Business with a 3, 4 or 5 are deemed to be broadly compliant with food hygiene legislation and those with ratings of 0, 1 or 2 have failed.
In April 2026 – 99% of food businesses in Wealden were broadly compliant with food law.
Food Hygiene Ratings April 2025
| FHRS Score | April 2026 | April 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 5 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 | 3 |
| 3 | 76 | 84 |
| 4 | 216 | 222 |
| 5 | 992 | 970 |
| Broad Compliance | 99% | 99% |
Food Hygiene Interventions Performance 2026-27
The number of food hygiene inspections due was six hundred and seventy-four, we completed six hundred and sixty-eight, exceeding our performance target of 98%. The overall performance of the food and safety team was excellent.| Year | Completed inspections |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 99% |
| 2016 | 99% |
| 2017 | 98% |
| 2018 | 98% |
| 2019 | 97% |
| 2020 | 62% |
| 2021 | 77% |
| 2022 | 99% |
| 2023 | 99% |
| 2024 | 99% |
| 2025 | 99% |
Service Delivery 2026-27
Wealden is committed to providing a full food hygiene service. For the year 2026-7 the total number of food premises due for inspection is six hundred and seventy plus six outstanding from 2025-6. These inspections are categorised as follows.| Food Rating Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Category A | 4 |
| Category B | 100 |
| Category C | 172 |
| Category D | 262 |
| Category E | 132 |
| Carry Forward | 6 |
| Total | 676 |
Our Approach
It is our policy to make food hygiene inspections without appointment. The Environmental Health Officer (EHO) will identify themselves to the food business owner (or person in charge) before starting the inspection. The intervention will be conducted in accordance with the Food Law Code 2023 in particular:- The hazards and risks will be assessed.
- The controls will be verified.
- The businesses validation will be examined.
- The findings will be discussed.
- A report of visit form will be left.
- A follow up letter may be issued.
Poorest Performers
Food businesses scoring 0-2 will receive more attention and support to continue to raise standards. This means that inspectors will make compliance checks (revisit) within three months of the initial inspection. If significant improvements have not been made officers will take enforcement action. Those businesses which show little, or no improvement may be subject to enforcement action.Enforcement
Environmental Health Officers issued twenty-five enforcement notices to five food businesses in 2025-6. These legal instructions required deep cleaning, improved record keeping, improvement work to structure and training.
All but two notices were complied with. Further action is being taken against this business.
No prosecutions were taken in 2025/6.
Advice
During each inspection officers speak with business owners, and may discuss a range of subjects, not just food hygiene. Advice is given on health and safety at work and licensing. For many business owners, this is the only opportunity they get to speak to an officer of the Council, to discuss any concerns they have or to discuss how to resolve difficult hygiene and safety matters.
Early in 2026, routine sampling discovered the Listeria bacteria in a food manufacturing unit. Listeria monocytogenes causes a rare food borne disease called Listeriosis. Although rare, if contracted by the young or elderly, immunocompromised or pregnant, it can lead to the serious conditions, meningitis, sepsis, miscarriage, still birth.
This harmful bacterium was found in the structure of a food manufacturing room and officers advised the business that it had to be eliminated as soon as possible. Clean foods cannot be made in a dirty environment. The business immediately withdrew the food products from sale and began a deep clean and disinfection of the room.
We sampled the surfaces and foodstuffs after cleaning, but the harmful bacterium remained.
Microscope image of Listeria monocytogenes
Officers revisited the business and discussed cleaning and disinfection in detail. The business pursued our advice in detail and at the next round of sampling all was satisfactory – no Listeria remained within the structure.
The business returned to safe production of food.
Seasonal Businesses
There are seasonal food businesses within the district who trade only between June and September or in early December. These businesses are inspected according to the Food Standards Agency food hygiene intervention scheme (as 4.1 above). However, those categorised as C are scheduled for an intervention at 18 months which may fall within their closed period. In these cases, it is policy to bring these inspections forward, so they are inspected when they are trading.
Unrated Businesses
A business is unrated when it is registered with the local authority but is awaiting the first inspection. In April 2026 there were twelve unrated food businesses.
Revisits
Sixty-one revisits were made in 2025 – 6 to businesses to check that works had been completed when significant statutory requirements were found on the programmed inspection. The number of revisits varies every year, as can be seen below.
| Year | Number of Revisits |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 77 |
| 2015 | 59 |
| 2016 | 84 |
| 2017 | 47 |
| 2018 | 73 |
| 2019 | 43 |
| 2020 | 20 |
| 2021 | 54 |
| 2022 | 56 |
| 2023 | 55 |
| 2024 | 61 |
| 2025 | 43 |
The variance is because the Food Law Code specifies when a revisit should be made, i.e.., when hygiene, structure and/or management are poorly scored. It is Wealden policy that revisits are always made after the expiry of statutory notices and to any businesses rated 0-2 FHRS. EHOs are responsible for ensuring that poorly performing businesses reach at least a three, generally satisfactory within three months.
Food Businesses with 3 or 4 who wish to improve their score may apply for a revisit without charge after a three-month period or with charge once the work has been completed.
Service Requests
Complaints about foodstuffs, food businesses or handlers can be made directly to Environmental Health by emailing foodhs@rother.gov.uk or by telephone to 01323 443322.
We do not accept anonymous complaints, full contact details will be asked for, which will be kept confidential. The team will observe the shared service complaint investigation policy on initial response to a service request within 5 days and complete the investigation within 90 days. In 2025-6 we investigated sixty-four food and hygiene complaints from members of the public.
New Businesses
One hundred and forty-eight (148) new food businesses opened their doors for the first time, and another forty-eight businesses changed hands. Each of these businesses received a visit from the Environmental Health service and was given advice on food hygiene and safety matters. Every new food business is obliged to register with their local authority and this form is available on our website along with full advice on starting up a new food business at Starting a Food Business
Sampling
During 2025-6 the food and safety team took samples of dried fruits, nuts and seeds, root vegetables and raw chicken as part of national studies to establish the current trends in food contamination. Rates of Salmonella and Campylobacter, the two most common food poisonings, are at the highest rate in a decade, and are associated with chicken. Root vegetables have been associated with E.coli STEC, a very serious food borne disease that can cause kidney failure. No Campylobacter, Salmonella nor E.coli STEC were found in tests made on foods purchased within Wealden DC.
Foods were also sampled from manufacturers of cheese, producers of milk, yogurt and meat products. Work surfaces were swabbed to make sure that cleaning procedures were effective. Generally, results were satisfactory, where they were not, advice was given.
Primary Authority
Primary Authority allows businesses to be involved in their own regulation. It enables them to form a statutory partnership with one local authority which then provides advice for other regulators, to take into account when carrying out inspections or addressing non-compliance. Wealden acts as a primary authority for one food business. Wealden complies with the primary authority principle by checking the appropriate website before conducting food hygiene inspections, noting any assured advice or inspection plans and feeding back after the inspection.
Export of Food
There was one major company in Wealden who exported food outside the European Union. Environmental Health Officers signed health certificates for this exporter weekly. In 2025-6 a total of 71 such certificates were issued to accompany the food consignment to its destination. The company ceased trading in July 2025.
Notifiable Diseases
In 2025-6 Wealden received 90 notifications of infectious diseases from UKHSA. This is a dramatic fall from previous years is because the reporting rules have changed, with the most common food poisoning, Campylobacter, no longer reported. UKHSA has decided to investigate cases, E.coli STEC, Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Paratyphoid and Shigella, without our assistance.
There were no local outbreaks nor exclusions in 2024-5.
| Disease | 2025-26 | 2024-25 | 2023-24 | 2022-23 | 2021-22 | 2020-21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campylobacter | 43 | 290 | 287 | 152 | 200 | 191 |
| Covid 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 98 | 191 |
| Salmonella | 20 | 27 | 19 | 20 | 13 | 10 |
| Cryptosporidium | 2 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| Hepatitis E | 0 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| E. coli 0157 | 4 | 14 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 10 |
| Legionnaires Disease | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Shigella sonnei | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Paratyphoid | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Listeria | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Giardia | 5 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Others | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 14 |
| Total | 90 | 363 | 365 | 208 | 348 | 244 |
Nationally, the total number of notifiable diseases is the highest in recent years. This is despite how few persons see a GP and obtain a faecal test. Cases of Salmonella and Campylobacter highest in a decade – GOV.UK
Food Alerts
In January 2026, the Food Standards Agency advised all local authorities that nestle issued a withdrawal of Cow & Gate and Aptamil infant milk products because of cereluide poisoning. This unusual toxin is produced by Bacillus cereus, a food poisoning rarely seen. It is heat resistant, meaning that making up the formula to the manufacturer’s instructions did not destroy the toxin. If ingested the toxin causes nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps. Environmental Health Officers were asked to assist with any local reports of illness.
Picture shows one of the products affected.
Tragically, one infant died in East Sussex. They were not residents of Wealden District.
Advice for Food Businesses
- Wealden Council offers a range of business advice through the website at Business Support . A business newsletter and support leaflet are available in hard copy or electronically to all and includes health and safety advice for business.
- Advice is available for those thinking of starting a new business on the website at Starting up a business Should more detailed guidance be required, Environmental Health Officers will do so on request.
- The Environmental Health service webpages provide food hygiene advice for new start-up businesses at Starting a Food Business
Resources
Budget 2026/27
- Staff: 3.94 FTE
- Total Cost: £253,324.00
- Employee Costs: £235,630.00
- Supplies and Services: £17,694
The specific monies allocated to the following areas are as below:
- Sampling Budget: £15664 With UKHSE not Wealden
- Legal Action: £1,000,000 For general council disasters and emergencies – not specific to food hygiene
The number of full-time equivalent staff working on food hygiene, including supervision and management, for 2026-7 is 3.94, authorised food officers are named below. Note EHORB indicates Registration with the Environmental health Officers Registration Board.
| Environmental Health Officer | Additional Qualification | Level Authorisation/Inspection | Level Authorisation/Enforcement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binding, Amy | Env Health Degree | C-E | Full |
| Edwards, Simon | EHORB Registration Env Health Degree | A-E | Full |
| Gatta, Alek | Food Control Diploma | D and E | Partial |
| Hoyland, Richard | EHORB Registration Env Health Degree | A-E | Full |
| Kamunda, Maybee | EHORB Registration Env Health Degree | A-E | Full |
| Kane, Una | EHORB registration Env Health Degree MSc (Applied Micro) | A-E | Full |
| Oginni, Oladayo | EHORB Registration Env Health Degree | A-E | Full |
| Piper, Richard | EHORB Registration Env Health Degree | A-E | Full |
| Powell, Jamie | EHORB Registration Env Health Degree | A-E | Full |
| Simmonds, Rachel | EHORB Registration Env Health Degree | A-E | Full |
| Whitcombe, Ann | EHORB Registration Env Health Degree | A-E | Full |
| Wright, Philip | EHORB Registration Env Health Degree | A-E | Full |
Other Officers, within the Environmental Health Department (but not within the Food and Safety team), who are authorised are as follows:
| Name | Role | Authorisation |
|---|---|---|
| Parker-Harding, Richard | Head of Environmental Health | Full Authorisation |
| Randolph, Mark | Senior Environmental Health Officer | Full Authorisation |
| Beaumont, Catherine | Deputy Head of Environmental Health | Full Authorisation |
There were two pest control officers who provide professional advice to Environmental Health Officers and can give expert evidence to courts if required for an emergency closure of a food business. Tragically, Graeme Marsh, Pest Controller, died in February 2026.
Graeme had worked for Wealden for over twenty-five years and is sorely missed. The pest control service has run since June 2025 with one pest controller; a new officer has been appointed and is expected to start shortly.
Database
The shared Environmental health Service uses Idox Cloud as its database for
all inspections, including food hygiene. There are written procedures how to
record food inspections and complaints to make sure all is recorded accurately.
Staff Development
The shared Environmental Health service between Wealden and Rother has created resilience, improving collective knowledge and experience.
During 2025 – 6 team meetings were held every six weeks – always in person. Senior managers have attended at least one team meeting during the year. Full notes of meetings are available on the internet library FAST Team Meetings | RIAMS. Annual appraisals are conducted to identify training needs which form an annual training programme.
For 2025–6, new sessions were held to update knowledge for all members of the shared Environmental health service, to help everyone prepare for local government reorganisation. These sessions called “Lets Catch Up,” covered private sector housing, health and safety, licensing and noise. Every member of the team also attends external seminars, to progress their professional knowledge and self-development.
Those officers outside Food and Safety Team were invited to some meetings to learn about new working procedures, or to participate in a mock investigation. Officers from outside the team do not conduct food hygiene inspections unless they have completed the required training and are up to date with food and safety procedures and policies. Newly qualified officers are subject to competency assessment using the FSA Competency Framework.
Sussex Food Liaison Group Meetings
Wealden is represented on the Sussex Food Liaison Group by the Environmental Health Manager. This liaison work ensures that our enforcement activities are consistent with those of our neighbours.
In 2025 – 6 the food and safety team participated in two consistency exercises; these are blind tests designed to ensure that individual officers are consistent with scoring. The team score was generally consistent both locally and nationally.
Wealden is represented on the CIEH Sussex Branch of the Food Study Group, and UKHSA meetings on infection control.
Quality Assessment
Each year Wealden Council’s performance against this plan is measured, using all the specified targets, standards, and any targeted outcomes within this plan. It will specify where there has been variance from the plan and the reason for that variance.
Any areas in need of improvement will be specified and an action plan put in place to implement their improvement. No improvements were identified in 2025-6.
The service subscribes to RIAMS, Food | RIAMS an on-line Environmental health library service, providing links to national advice and guidance for Environmental Health practitioners. In addition, there is material available on the FSA’s website and their communications hub. There is also a library of law encyclopaedias and reference books in the office.
Agreed and Approved
Agree and approved by the General Purpose and Licensing Committee 27 July 2026.
Contacts
E-mail: foodhs@rother.gov.uk
Website: Wealden District Council
Telephone: 01323 644222 or 01424 787000.
Address: Vicarage Lane Hailsham East Sussex BN27 2AX