Purpose

Ipswich Borough Council currently have 400
overdue food hygiene inspections. This is because of the COVID
pandemic when the Food Standards Agency directed Local Authorities
to suspend their routine
inspection work to enable them to focus on
infection control.
 
Subsequently a government grant of
£50,000 was secured to deliver COVID recovery work. This
funding is eligible to be used to carry out food hygiene
inspections, but expenditure must happen before 31st
March 2023.
 
The Council requires appropriately qualified
food safety contractors to undertake these overdue food hygiene
inspections to enable the authority to comply with the requirements
of the Food Standards Agency. Procurement have been unsuccessful in
securing suitable contractors through the Councils
preferred supplier. It is not possible to
complete a full procurement process and complete the work to be
able to use the available funding.

Decision

To waive contract standing orders under
Contract Standing order para 3.10.1
to ensure that a specialist agency can be
approached to source appropriate and suitable contractors within a
short timescale.
 
Reason:
To carry out the COVID recovery work within
the short timescale to avoid the financial loss of the grant. If
the exemption from contract standing orders had not been made, the
funding to secure a contractor would have been lost and Ipswich
Borough Council would continue to carry a backlog of
inspections.
The Council would not be able to fulfil the
Statutory Requirements of the Food Law Code of Practice until
further resource was available.