Food Standards Office Publishes Inspection Programme and Outcome Scale

The Food Standards Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network today published its inspection programme for the remainder of 2026 and the scale of outcomes that inspectors will apply. Inspections begin on Monday 14 September 2026 at the principal sites of the Network and extend to every registered business according to its risk category. The Office's 26 authorised inspectors will carry out 620 inspections between 14 September and 31 December 2026.

Each inspection results in one of five outcomes: compliant, broadly compliant, improvement required, urgent improvement required, or prohibition. The outcome, the matters found and the time allowed to put them right are set out in a written report given to the business at the end of the inspection or within two working days of it. From 1 November 2026, businesses will be required to display the certificate recording their most recent outcome at the entrance to the premises.

During the transition period, 218 inspections were carried out under interim arrangements: 131 businesses were found compliant, 54 broadly compliant, 24 required improvement, 7 required urgent improvement and 2 were prohibited from trading until the matters found were put right. The full procedure, the outcome scale and the frequency of inspection by risk category are set out on the Inspection page of this site.