I forgot to add, my opinion is that essentially I feel it will assist the process as public expense is cut, but am unsure if it will carry any positive or negative baggage from the busines's point of view. Thanks again.

Hi Bob, Thanks. This initiative is purely a recommendation in Lord Young's recent review, and as such, may or may not happen. If this recommendation materialised, I'm interested if there would be implications, if so, what would they be?

The consultant is likely to do a more comprehensive inspection as the LA can rely on "diagnostic" inspection as a means of protection against litigation etc. Means likely to put up the costs, both for the LA and the inspected.

First off, why is there such extensive discussion of food hygiene and food safety in a Report entitled "A report by Lord Young of Graffham to the Prime Minister following a Whitehall‑wide review of the operation of health and safety laws and the growth of the compensation culture" is beyond me. I guess that's old ground, very well covered already. The basis of LY's recommendation is based essentially exclusively on costs, but nowhere is there an explanation or justification of that. These "contractors" surely have no enforcement power and the implications for dealing with potential enforcement issues arising is surely adding befuddlement? I note the May 2011 Milestone target date for "Presentation to Food Standards Agency Board of proposals for opening delivery of food safety inspections to accredited certification bodies" has passed. Has any such presentation taken place or is one still planned I wonder. Is there in fact ANY ongoing engagement with FSA on the LY Report recommendations?