There were no apologies for absence

There were no declarations of pecuniary interest

RESOLVED

The Minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2015 were agreed as a correct record

The Committee noted the information provided in the report, that had been  requested at the last meeting, regarding the national Food Hygiene Rating System. The Committee stated that they wanted to drive up standards, not close premises down and that competition was a good way to achieve this.

The Committee discussed the Curry Master Chief competition that had previously been run, with great success by LBM. It was noted that this competition had been open to entries from all Asian and Sri Lankan restaurants in the borough, with the key point being that all premises had to reach a certain minimum standard of hygiene before they could enter. The Committee agreed to ask Officers to consider  re-launching the Curry Master Chief competition across the Joint Service area and to investigate sponsorship for the competition.

Members agreed that The Committee should lobby MPs to make the display of Food Hygiene Rating Scores mandatory on the frontage of all restaurants and fast food outlets.

RESOLVED:

The Joint Regulatory Committee noted the contents of the Report

Discussion Item

The Committee agreed the following dates for the meetings to be held in 2016/17, all at Merton Civic Centre:

Tuesday 7 June 2016 at 10am

Tuesday 4 October 2016 at 10am

Tuesday 7 February 2017 at 10am

To RESOLVE that the press and public are excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following report on the grounds that it is exempt from disclosure for the reasons stated in the report.

RESOLVED

That the press and public were excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following reports on the grounds that they were exempt from disclosure for the reasons stated in the reports.

The Head of Regulatory services presented his report on Fees and Charges across the Regulatory Service.

Members noted and discussed the contents of the report, and concluded by asking officers to determine the costs associated with the provision of discretionary fees and charges across the Joint Regulatory Service

RESOLVED

The Joint Regulatory Committee:

A.   noted the current situation with Fees and Charges across the Joint Regulatory Service

B.   provided  Officers with guidance on the future approach to be used when setting Fees and charges