Dear Local Council,

Can you please provide me with the number of food safety inspections carried out in your area annually, for the last three years?

How many warning were issued each year and how many fines each year?

What percentage of all food outlets did the council inspect each year?

Have any outlets been shut down for non-compliance and if so what for and how many?

What were the worst offences/biggest fines for each year?

Yours faithfully,

Nigel Gladstone

Dear Byron Shire council,

You have not responded to my request for information yet, it has been more than a month. Can I please clarify that I want to know how many high and medium risk food businesses were inspected in each year (2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16) and what percentage of the total number of these were inspected in each year, how many warnings, formal improvement notices and fines were issued in each year? How many outlets were shut down each year, if any?

This request is very simple as all the information I am asking for is contained in an annual report all councils provide to the NSW food Authority.

If you do not have a copy of it, you can request it from the food authority and they will email it back to you. I am happy to go through the form myself to get the information as several other councils have sent it to me.

Unfortunately, the Food authority will not release the forms as it is third party information so I have to request it from all councils individually. I have already received this information from more than 50 councils now without the need for a formal GIPA as it is an informal request.

Yours sincerely,

Nigel Gladstone