The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is calling for all local authorities to adopt the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRC). 

In order to address the concerns of local authorities hesitant to introduce the new scheme, the FSA has announced a number of measures to facilitate the process. These include a ‘priorities fund’ to cover the cost that local authorities may face after adopting the new scheme and a partnership between the FSA and Transparancy Data which runs the current Scores on the Doors website to better integrate the data of the two schemes.

The FHRC was introduced as an alternative to the Scores on the Doors hygiene rating scheme across England and Northern Ireland in November 2010. Currently there are 163 local authorities using the FHRC scheme and 125 local authorities using Scores on the Doors. 

FSA chief executive Tim Smith said one scheme used throughout the country would aid transparency for consumers and businesses. “With a single scheme, consumers know that from Penzance to Preston, Belfast to Brecon, the same criteria have been used to rate premises,” he said. “These latest measures bring us closer to providing readily accessible ratings to consumers and consistency for businesses, and will ultimately drive up hygiene standards.”