FSA December 2021

ISSUE 51 | DECEMBER 2021

PAGE 2 Farewell Colin

PAGE 6 Sean Bird, MHI interviews the Ops Transformation Programme

PAGE 11 In Conversation with… Graham Beverley

WELCOME

WELCOME TO THE DECEMBER EDITION OF BETWEEN THE LINES This month Colin Sullivan, our Chief Operating Officer, leaves us to join the Human Tissue Authority. Here, in his own words, Colin says farewell: My four-and-a-quarter years at the FSA have flown past so quickly, but that’s surely a sign that I’ve enjoyed the experience tremendously. I’m very proud to be your Chief Operating Officer and I leave this month with extremely mixed emotions. While excited about the new opportunity of becoming the Chief Executive at the Human Tissue Authority, I must say goodbye to a great organisation, with wonderful colleagues who demonstrate exemplary public service.

From my first week, when the “meat on the floor” incident broke in The Guardian and on ITN (curtailing my induction somewhat), I’ve enjoyed the pace and variety of all that our Operations Directorate has to offer.

As a team, we’ve achieved targets and passed important milestones while also dealing with the unexpected, such as the large amount of additional work for Field Ops in light of the Russell Hume incident.

Perhaps most notable for me was serving as the Covid Incident Director.

Colleagues have shown considerable resilience, maintained service delivery, protected the consumer and retained high standards of

animal welfare. All while the global pandemic, coupled with EU exit, has created notable pressure on frontline staff and the managers involved.

We have expanded the National Food Crime Unit from a small intelligence function to a unit undertaking complex investigations (many of which link to the work of Field Ops). And I’m really pleased at how well we have managed to adapt to cope with food and feed incidents in the post-EU world. Even with many pressures on day-to-day operations, we have made good early progress on our journey to reform how we regulate and make the application of Official Controls more proportionate and risk-based.

In this my last article for Between the Lines, I would again urge colleagues, not least those working on the frontline, to continue to share your views and ideas on how best to modernise and improve, so we can make sure the Operational Transformation Programme proposals reflect what we can achieve together.

Looking to the future, as we work through the current resourcing pressures on the frontline, I’m confident that our organisation is in good stead for the future. The excellent response to the evening Teams calls and the face-to-face engagement events show your commitment to what we are seeking to do.

Of course, what I’ll miss most of all are the wonderful people who make up our organisation. It’s your passion and commitment to protecting the consumer and keeping food safe and authentic that makes this such a fantastic place to work. I regularly see colleagues go above and beyond the call of duty to keep the service going, deal with incidents, animal welfare breaches, food crime and providing essential assurance through audits and UAIs. I am leaving valued colleagues and will miss working with staff who are so dedicated to our mission of ‘food you can trust’.

One particular pleasure has been to see staff grow and develop, some in their existing roles, some now in more senior roles here and in other parts of the civil service.

It might be my time to move on, but I wish you all the very best – it has been a great pleasure to work for the FSA. And as I have said a few times over the last few years, I have every confidence you will keep on keeping on.

Colin Sullivan Chief Operating Officer

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NEWS

THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO I take great pride and comfort in.

Because of you, people will have food to celebrate with this Christmas, and animal welfare standards have been upheld. It’s an achievement that deserves to be celebrated and we For those of you working on the shouldn’t take for granted. frontline, I understand this message I hope that you do get some time will reach you at one of our busiest to enjoy time with your friends and times of year. family in the coming weeks. Frontline The system-wide issues we staff often take the burden over have experienced as a result of the festive periods. Across the public pandemic and EU exit have had a sector people in hospitals, prisons sustained impact on how many and blue light services are working to people are available to work on keep us all safe. The same is true in official controls. We are working the FSA as well. hard to address this and do not Merry Christmas, happy underestimate the challenges you Hanukkah, all the festive greetings, have faced. and very good wishes for 2022.

Knowing that you are the people Emily making sure food is safe is something As the festive period gets underway, I wanted to say thank you to you all for everything you are doing to make sure we have food we can trust.

NEWS IN BRIEF ASK EMT ANYTHING For October’s all-staff call, we ran an ‘Ask EMT Anything’ slot. It was incredibly popular with questions being posed about diversity and inclusion, resourcing, L&D and – hypothetically speaking – what our role would be in an apocalypse! We recorded the session and followed up any unanswered questions in a news article on the intranet.

End of public-sector pay freeze A key theme that came up was around pay and the pay freeze in place at the time of the call. Since then, on 27 October, the Chancellor announced plans to end the publicsector pay freeze from next year. In his Budget speech, he set out that public-sector workers would “see fair and affordable pay rises across the whole Spending Review period”.

At this stage, we don’t know the

detail of what this will mean for us yet – but we’ll keep you posted.

FSA AWARDS We received a whopping 204 nominations across the categories, which include the prestigious MHI of the Year Award and Vet of the Year Award. Thank you for taking the time to celebrate your colleagues. We’re looking forward to announcing the winners and celebrating as an organisation in the new year. Good luck to everyone who was nominated.

CIVIL SERVICE PEOPLE SURVEY More than three-quarters (77%) of colleagues shared their views in the Civil Service People Survey 2021.

We’ll have the high-level results to share with you later in December and team-level results in January.

Watch this space.

WINTER PLAN TO ADDRESS RESOURCING PRESSURE The run up to Christmas is one of the busiest times of year for Operational Delivery.

The national shortage of qualified Official Veterinarians and Meat Hygiene Inspectors is making it especially challenging this Christmas for our frontline teams.

Ops management continue to closely monitor the situation. Simon Tunnicliffe, Head of Field Operations, says: “We are working with stakeholders from across government and Eville and Jones, our Service Delivery Partner, to address the system-wide pressures we’re experiencing. While our position should improve early in the new year, we know things will be increasingly challenging between now and Christmas.

“As part of our annual winter planning activity we have relaunched our temporary policy for urgent internal resource redeployment for business critical activity which will enable us to temporarily redeploy staff at short notice to maintain service delivery.

“We’re also working as collaboratively with industry to minimise the impact by ensuring we’re able to establish as early as possible where demands on our teams may come from.

“I’d like to express my gratitude to everyone who is working so hard in difficult circumstances to ensure we’re able to maintain food supply and protect the public’s plate this Christmas. Thank you.”

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NEWS

COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY We’re working hard to make positive, • Reducing our carbon footprint – measurable, and lasting gains by progressively reducing our CO2 towards achieving net zero by 2050 emissions linked to staff air, rail, and road travel In November, we published our • Conserving natural resources – Environmental Sustainability Strategy, by minimising waste across our setting out our commitment to estate and actively pursuing and support the UK government in promoting measures to reduce, meeting its target of reducing reuse and recycle emissions by 78% by 2035 compared • P rioritising sustainable procurement to 1990 levels (the world’s most – by positively influencing the ambitious climate change target), and sustainability performance of to help drive the achievement of net suppliers and evaluating the zero by 2050. sustainability credentials of the Our Environmental Sustainability goods and services that we purchase Strategy sets out three priority areas where we believe we can make Matt Dalton-Placzek, Wine positive, measurable, and lasting Standards Inspector and Chair of gains towards achieving net zero: the FSA’s Climate and Environment

Action Group, says: “After 18 months in the making, the publication of our new environmental sustainability strategy is an incredible milestone.

“Working effectively at a grassroots level, our Climate and Environment Action Group has worked collaboratively with colleagues from across the organisation to ensure we have a strategy which demonstrates the FSA’s commitment to lead by example and hold ourselves to account in tackling climate change.

“I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been involved and helped us to agree these challenging yet progressive targets.”

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEW NATIONAL TRAINING LEAD We’re pleased to announce that Robert Thackeray will be our new Training Centre Assurance Lead

processes. We now have Direct Claim status, which enables me, as IQA, to verify candidates’ work, speeding up training.

Robert’s new role focuses on our “I’m really looking forward to internal RSPH accredited Official the next chapter, working closely Auxiliary training programme, where with our brilliant assessors and he’ll provide crucial support to the IT team in England and Wales, trainees and ensure our recruitment and with Food Standards Scotland, and training activity is of the highest to ensure we maintain the very best standards of meat inspection quality.

Robert says: “I am really pleased across all delivery models.”

Robert Tindall, Operations to have officially been made Manager, explains why Robert was Training Centre Assurance Lead, a perfect fit: “This new role was having played a fundamental role at the training centre since the very developed to help us ensure our Official Auxiliaries training centre beginning. has a solid foundation to “The training centre has gone continue the great work from strength to strength in the already underway and to last few years, as we’ve updated develop our capability in future. the qualifications and improved

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“Rob was an excellent candidate for the role. He has been in the meat and farming industries his whole life. His deep and intimate knowledge of meat inspection and its delivery is clear to see. At interview he expertly demonstrated his experience and we’re very proud to have him lead our programme. Already, he has worked with the RSPH to positively influence the modernisation of the course. He also lectures on the topic at university as a subject matter expert. Rob will now work across the three regions to ensure we have a consistent approach and our trainees develop the right skills and knowledge to effectively carry out their role once qualified.”

NEWS

SHADOWING OUR

FRONTLINE Our Chief Scientific Advisor Robin May and Director of Strategy Katie Pettifer recently took part in a tour of Farmers Fresh abattoir in Warwickshire Robin and Katie recently spent the day at Farmers Fresh abattoir in Kenilworth, Warwickshire to learn more about the day-to-day work of our frontline staff.

Trevor Spears, Inspection Team Leader from Cluster 27, facilitated the day and provided a fantastic insight into working on the frontline.

We send our thanks to him.

Katie says the visit was a real learning experience and a valuable first visit to meet our inspection teams. She says: “It brought home to me the speed with which our Meat Hygiene Inspectors and Official Veterinarians have to spot risks and make decisions, and the close proximity in which they work with FBOs. These are jobs which clearly require a great deal of skill. We really appreciated the chance to talk to colleagues and hear

first-hand about the very difficult resourcing challenges they’re trying to manage at the moment. We were really grateful to them for the time they took to show us around and explain their work.”

Robin agrees and says it was incredibly useful and eye-opening to see the whole process from start to finish: “We were enormously grateful to both FSA and FBO colleagues at the plant for taking the time to show us around, especially at a time of such frontline operational pressure. The scale and efficiency of the operation was remarkable, but I was also very much struck by the challenging environment that all of the staff face – working under significant time pressure under hugely demanding physical conditions. The skill and professionalism of everyone involved was striking and I left feeling both very well-informed and hugely impressed with the dedication shown by all of the colleagues involved.”

OUR STRATEGY – YOUR VOICE For over 20 years, the FSA has improved food safety and standards. We’re trusted by consumers, and we’ve built a global reputation for our science and evidence, and our commitment to openness and transparency.

Over past few months we’ve been working on a draft new strategy, to set a direction for the next three years.

Our job, set out in legislation, is to protect public health from food risks, and to protect the interests of consumers in relation to food.

People trust us to make sure food is safe and what it says it is. We want to maintain and build on that.

Food safety and standards will always be our core purpose. But we also want to recognise the challenges we face in the wider foodsystem, like health and sustainability.

Our proposed vision: • ​​​​Food is safe • ​​​​ Food is what it says it is • ​​​​ Food is healthier and more sustainable You can find out more and share your views about our proposals on our intranet.

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FEATURE

OPERATIONAL TRANSFORMATION

PROGRAMME

Q&A It has been a significant year for Ops Transformation with the development of the Future Delivery Model, recent public consultation and Board approval on the work plan for the next year. Sean Bird (above), Meat Hygiene Inspector (MHI) recently interviewed Richard Wynn-Davies (right) who is leading the Operational Transformation Programme to find out more.

ary Here’s a summ if t u b of the Q&A atch a you’d like to w g of the video recordin ll, follow interview in fu elow) the QR code (b mobile using our FSA phone.

Sean: What has OTP been up to the last few months?

Richard: A lot of the work has been focused on the Future Delivery Model and what it might look like in five years. We need the change champions and MHIs to be involved in developing the detail with us now.

With frontline resource gaps it’s been really hard to find capacity to properly engage. We hope in the new year things will calm down and there’ll be lots of opportunity for discussion and engagement.

Although we’ve tried to keep everyone updated via the national evening engagement calls, this magazine and FMG Comms, we recognise nothing beats speaking to frontline colleagues.

S: Staff morale is being affected. A lot of it is down to Covid, but there’s uncertainty about OTP – people think the job is coming to an end.

R: I understand, and we need to do more to reassure people that actually the future is bright, there is a lot to look forward to and people shouldn’t be worried about their jobs.

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FEATURE

This programme is not about reducing jobs or saving money. You could argue that the current system works at the moment, but it is getting harder. Industry is developing much faster than we are with technology and speed. We’ve left the EU and have different relationships with trade partners. We need to adapt, to look at what other countries do to see what’s working. We need to use the technology and data that is there. It’s about food safety, consumer trust and making the best of our valuable skilled resources.

There’s going to be lots of opportunity to do things differently. That can be scary for some, but there’ll be opportunities to learn new skills and try different things.

We need to work with MHIs and Official Veterinarians (OVs) as we develop the detail and then people will see what it is going to look like, but this takes time.

S: What MHI representation is there on the OTP team?

R: We’ve got two ex-MHIs and also veterinary representation. We also have people with Field Ops experience. I’m confident we’ve a good level of expertise in the team. We need to ensure we’re using innovative ways to get more MHI contribution. If you or your change champion colleagues have any ideas, bring them on, because we’re going to be increasingly reliant on you all to help us define exactly what the future looks like.

S: In a worst-case scenario, where there is no more physical inspection by the MHI, would relevant training be provided to enable us to work within the new model?

R: We’ll always have inspection by MHIs. We’re absolutely not removing that role. Not all plants are

highly compliant and there will always be assurance, even where industry are doing more of the dayto-day inspection activity, be that visits, remote monitoring, data collection, supervisory work. If plants export to the EU, they must abide by existing EU rules. So, some OTP initiatives can only be done in plants that just produce for the domestic market.

The MHI and OV role will always be critical. One of our workstreams is looking at how we resource and develop the skills we need in the future. Where we don’t need MHIs spending all day doing PMI, we want them to be supporting the OV in other areas or doing some tasks only OVs do today, or indeed getting involved in assurance activity, UAI, supporting audits, reviewing performance data and playing a more advisory role with FBOs. S: Would it be more beneficial to have OVs and MHIs resourced in-house, given staff shortages?

R: We’re aware of the difficulties we and E&J have had with recruitment. Anybody recruiting MHIs and OVs in today’s market, whether commercially or a government department, is going to be finding it very tough. EU exit and Covid have had a major impact.

Insourcing vs contracting both have pros and cons.

We can’t suddenly recruit 100% of our MHIs and OVs, that’s a mammoth task, but we can look at some more direct recruitment in the foreseeable future. We’ll still likely want to use some outsource capability for flexibility.

FIND OUT MORE Operational transformation is a five-year programme of work, but several key areas will be progressed over the next year, visit the intranet to see the latest timeline. Don’t forget, if you’d like to get in touch with the OTP team you can do so either through your Change Champion, or by email to OTP@food.gov.uk

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INITIATIVES

MEN’S NETWORK: AN EVENING WITH CLARKE CARLISLE The Men’s Network provides a platform to support and encourage the promotion of men’s health and wellbeing In recognition of International Men’s Day, the FSA’s Men’s Network hosted their inaugural event last month, welcoming former footballer Clarke Carlisle as special guest speaker.

Mark Dawson, Men’s Network chair, says: “We wanted to host an event that promoted how important it is to be able to speak out, share problems and address issues.

“We were lucky enough to be joined by Clarke who talked openly with so many colleagues about

his battle with drink, depression and mental health issues, in such a thought-provoking manner.

Thank you to everyone who joined the call. We really hope that by hosting events and bringing people together like this, we can make a difference.”

Find out more To watch a recording of the event and to find out more about the network, please visit the intranet or get in touch with mark.dawson@food.gov.uk

“Fantastic inspirational talk – thank you for being so honest” “Thank you Clarke for this insight into your life and struggles. A lot to take away from this talk for thought” “Powerful stuff, and very well-articulated, great talk” “Best Teams call I’ve ever been on! Well done everyone and huge thanks to Clarke!”

NEW CANCER SUPPORT NETWORK Our new Cancer Support Network launched in September to assist colleagues who have been impacted by cancer Gill Bramley, Radiological Policy Advisor, has set up the new Cancer Support Network following her own treatment for the disease.

She says: “Last August, I was diagnosed with colon cancer which had spread to my liver. I’m pleased to say after two major surgeries and nine rounds of aggressive chemotherapy, my cancer is now stable.

“During my cancer journey, I received a lot of support from my line manager and team. But

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I noticed there wasn’t a support network for staff who are going through or have gone through the same as me. I’ve set up this network for colleagues directly affected by cancer or who are supporting someone through it.”

Get involved • O n Teams: Colleagues can join a private Teams page for a safe space to chat, share information and experiences.

Any messages shared here will be treated in confidence.

• On Yammer: Join the Cancer Support Network Yammer group to find out the latest news, events and general information.

• Be an ally: If you’d like to support the network and help facilitate the Teams or Yammer page, get in touch.

For more details about the network, accessing the Teams page or becoming an ally, please email Gill at gill.bramley@food.gov.uk

INITIATIVES

BULLYING & HARASSMENT

ZERO TOLERANCE Tackling bully and harassment in the workplace is an EMT priority and we have developed several initiatives to ensure people feel empowered to report it.

Our bullying and harassment (BH) results in the annual Civil Service People Survey (CSPS) have been steadily falling over the last four years – however, they are still consistently above the Civil Service Benchmark. The FSA has a zerotolerance position on bullying and harassment, and tackling it is an EMT priority.

The 2020 results told us that 42% of people who experienced bullying and harassment did not report it – mainly because they didn’t want to be seen as a troublemaker or because they felt no action would be taken.

We’ve developed several initiatives to help address this by: • Clarifying what happens when you report bullying and harassment • Reassuring you that action will be taken • Ensuring you are confident that you will not experience any adverse outcomes from reporting the issue

42% OF PEOPLE WHO EXPERIENCED BULLYING AND HARASSMENT DID NOT REPORT IT

Understanding the unacceptable We’ve worked with our Trade Unions to develop an initiative called Understanding the Unacceptable, clarifying what behaviour is unacceptable in the workplace, reassuring you that any concerns you raise will be taken seriously and signposting the available support. Look out for this in early 2022.

Dispute Resolution Policy To make it easier to report and resolve bullying and harassment, we are streamlining our internal policies into a single new Dispute Resolution Policy with a supporting toolkit. This has been designed to be as accessible as possible, based on your feedback, and to provide reassurance that we’ll deal with issues fairly and in an impartial, independent, timely manner.

CULTURE WORKSHOPS – WHAT NEXT? Throughout October and November, nearly 300 colleagues from across the organisation took part in culture workshops.

The workshops feed into a culture enquiry which is being carried out to help us define our current culture and its impact.

Sam Antoniou, who is leading the culture enquiry, says: “Thank you to everyone for getting involved and sharing your experience of what it’s like to work here.

The workshops really highlighted how varied our individual backgrounds are and the importance of understanding local team cultures, as well as the themes that span the whole organisation.

“We’ll be presenting our findings to EMT/BDG mid-January and your feedback will help us to develop our People Plan and design activities that continue culture discussions in 2022. No doubt these discussions will see us getting stuck into the specific cultural areas that we want to influence in line with our new strategy.”

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VOICES

PRIORITISING

MENTAL WELLBEING

As part of our Voices series, Simon Jones, Meat Hygiene Inspector, shares his journey to becoming an FSA Mental Health First Aider A little while ago I spotted the opportunity to attend a mental health first aid course to become a qualified Mental Health First Aider. I applied by expression of interest and attended the course in September.

And, wow – I was totally unprepared for it. Despite doing some reading in advance, I was surprised by how much there was to learn about mental health. Some of the statistics were particularly shocking.

Did you know 1 in 4 of us experienced a mental health problem this year? But realistically, it’s likely to be 1 in 3 as not everyone is willing to recognise that they have problems.

The course really helped my understanding and improved my empathy for others and provided a

reminder of just how powerful words can be.

Although mental health has been something that’s historically been swept under the carpet, the course has taught me how important it is to be open about how you’re feeling and look out for others. Stress and pressure may be factors we all need to deal with in everyday life, but learning how to cope and manage them is vital. So is having a helping hand available.

The training has opened my eyes to the wide-ranging complexity of mental health and taught me how to provide support in certain situations. I’m glad I now feel equipped to offer support to someone in need or signpost them in the right direction.

I’m proud to work for an organisation that is so committed

To find out about the mental health and wellbeing support we have available, please visit the intranet.

Here, you will find a full list of our Mental Health First Aiders and details of how to access our employee assistance programme.

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1 IN 4 OF US EXPERIENCED A MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEM IN THE LAST YEAR to supporting colleagues and prioritising mental health. Progress in this area continues and along with the Mental Health Supporters, colleagues have a range of other networks available who can provide support and discuss matters in confidence.

I would strongly encourage anyone that needs to, to get in contact if you require more information or just want a chat.

IN CONVERSATION WITH…

GRAHAM BEVERLEY This time we chat with Graham Beverley, CBI Business Manager about his time as MHI of the Year.

I’ve been a Meat Hygiene Inspector for 21 years now and come from a family who has been in farming and the meat trade for five generations.

So really, I didn’t have much choice in the matter!

In January, I was presented with Meat Hygiene Inspector of the Year award.

I was gobsmacked to win. It’s not something I was working towards, although I was aware I’d been a runner-up some years back, before my colleague Rob Thackeray received the trophy. Who’d have thought, two inspectors out of a team of two at the same plant winning?

It was an overwhelming honour to be nominated by my peers who recognised the extra work I’d been doing to improve communications during the pandemic, helping colleagues connect digitally, as well as supporting our trainee Official Auxiliaries. Being announced the winner came as a great shock, but I was very grateful and proud to share the news with my family.

Sadly, I’ve missed out on a lot of the opportunities that usually come with the MHI of the Year award. The pandemic has limited me being able to get out and about as much as I’d have liked. But, I have contributed to as many projects as possible and enjoyed talking to and working with colleagues from across the organisation.

A real highlight has been leading the mobile phone rollout to frontline staff and seeing the benefits of inspectors being able to connect with each other and carry out work tasks on their phone, flexibly and easily.

I’ve also recently joined the Change, Business, Implementation (CBI) Unit as a Business Manager, where I look

IT WAS AN OVERWHELMING HONOUR TO BE NOMINATED BY MY PEERS WHO RECOGNISED THE EXTRA WORK I’D BEEN DOING after the Facilitation and Coordination Support Team. It’s a really varied role and includes providing briefing support to Field Management Group during these challenging times.

In January, I’ll hand the MHI of the Year trophy over to the next winner. My advice to them is simply: push yourself out of your comfort zone, take on all the challenges and opportunities that come your way. And hopefully, you’ll get the chance to be out and about at meetings to show off your cup!

QUICK-FIRE Q&A Describe your job in three words Challenging, fast-paced and interesting.

What keeps you sane?

Walking the dogs and bird watching.

How would your colleagues describe you?

Friendly, helpful and hopefully a good laugh.

What makes you proud to work for the FSA? It’s not about the money.

It’s the fact we’re doing something for the greater good.

LAST WORD

A TRAINEE’S JOURNEY Newly qualified Chelsea Walton has submitted this poem, documenting her TOA journey.

Thank you Chelsea and congratulations on becoming a fully-fledged Meat Hygiene Inspector!

, But with each I started this journey bright eyed and bushy tailed nail. rusty a like down ed nock passing week felt k

much, The modules were hard and the content far too it all became too much.

I felt myself drowning and

I’d lock myself My Assessor would say “it's easy this one”, And . done to get this away thinking I HAVE

up, I spoke to fellow By week five I had somehow managed to catch up. open to g trainees and was willin

North became We became 'Team Rework' and the four from the d each other helpe and , ideas , ledge friends, We've shared know through to the end.

a Meat Hygiene Inspector, ming beco of ey Along this journ have I've met colourful characters and my people skills become better.

ied my brain would implode, worr , cried I've and ed laugh I've With all that I've learnt to be competent in my role. a few, Parasitology, microbiology and pathology to name I knew. that e quot a me beca ” “Keep tight to the contents page

d me along I can't thank enough the people who have helpe n to teach show ve they' nce patie and the way, The kindness way. right the me

a must, I will be a Meat Hygiene it's now and My training is over Inspector, delivering “food we can trust”.

MOC UPDATES For the latest MOC publication and information about the MOC Modernisation Project, please take a look at the MOC intranet page. For the best user experience, we recommend using MS Chrome or Edge to access the page and not Internet Explorer. If you’ve got any questions, please get in touch with the MOC team: moc@food.gov.uk

Do you have a story for Between the Lines?

Email us at internalcommunications@food.gov.uk

MAINTAINING WINE STANDARDS Simon Tunnicliffe recently shadowed Stephen Goff, Wine Inspector for the day to learn first-hand about wine inspection.

The day was varied and jam-packed.

Starting first with a visit to Aldi’s head office and national distribution centre, then on to a newly registered vineyard. The final stop was to a large bonded warehouse and distribution centre, where hundreds of thousands of cases of Bacardi and Martini Group duty suspended stock is handled each year.

Simon commented, “Thank you to Steve who organised a great day which really gave me a flavour of how diverse wine inspection is. It was great to see our role as a regulator in action along with the support and guidance we offer to all sectors of the UK wine trade, ensuring the safety, traceability and authenticity of products.”

A VISIT TO SPAIN In November colleagues enjoyed a virtual visit to Spain to sample Rioja in the latest wine tasting event hosted by our wine inspection team.

Steve Goff, Wine Standards Inspector showcased his immense knowledge during the evening, sharing everything there is to know about Rioja, including the different styles, regions and classification.

As always, everyone who joined the tasting had a great time and left knowing a little more about Rioja. We can’t wait to explore more types of wine in the new year!