Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 18 June 2019.

RESOLVED:

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 18 June March 2019 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

There were no apologies for absence.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

This report provides an overview of the Council’s work in controlling food allergies in food businesses.

Graham Morrison Environmental Health Officer provided a presentation of the Council’s role in controlling food allergies in local businesses. An overview was provided of the work that the Food Safety team had carried out to keep residents and visitors to the borough, safe. The UK law defined 14 substances that needed to be clearly labelled or indicated as being present in foods. In Britain, these substances were: celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, mollusc, mustard, nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, soya, and sulphur dioxide. He showed slides that explained the role and the bodies response to allergic reactions, anaphylaxis, or anaphylactic shock, food intolerance and histamine poisoning. A local case study of a customer suffering an anaphylactic shock after eating a takeaway and the steps taken by the Council were outlined. The customer reported the case to the Council and relevant investigations were carried out by the team. 2 statutory notices were served on the business and as a result their website was updated.

An overview was provided on the Law and regulations relating to food allergies. Additionally, the three basic styles of sale to the public were noted. These included catering & take-away, pre packed retail (e.g. supermarket), and retail made on the premises (e.g. Pret a Manger). Currently legal requirements varied across this spectrum. On 4^th July 2019 the Food Standards Agency (FSA), following consultation with all interested parties, issued the following decision. “Mandate the name of the food and full ingredient list labelling, with allergens emphasised, on packing of food prepacked for direct sale.” The Food Information (Amendment)(England) Regulations were laid on 5 September 2019 and would come into effect on 1 October 2021. Local authorities would be responsible for enforcement as part of the routine inspections.

Graham Morrison explained that the Council had a statutory responsibility for food hygiene and food standards in all food outlets; this included food allergies, of which 14 were listed in the legislation. Routine inspections were made on a risk-based schedule and complaints were investigated as they occurred and appropriate action was taken. There were many different theories suggesting why allergies occurred, however the issue had not been resolved. There had been an increase in reporting and going forward, officers would ensure that the website was updated to raise awareness of what questions needed to be asked when ordering food to minimise risk.

The Chair welcomed Tanya & Nadim Ednan Laperouse, parents of Natasha Ednan Laperouse who had a fatal allergic reaction after eating a partially labelled baguette, containing sesame. Mr and Mrs Ednan Laperouse commented that they were pleased to note that under ‘Natasha’s law’, food businesses would have to include full ingredients labelling on pre-packaged food. The law was set to come into force by Summer 2021 and businesses would be given a two-year implementation period to adapt to the changes. It was noted that according to data relating to food allergies, this affected 5-7% of infants and 1-2% of UK adults, extreme cases had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

This paper seeks to update the Policy and Accountability Committee on progress on the development and engagement for the safer cycle pathway along King Street and Hammersmith Road, and the proposed A4 cycle highway.

Richard Duffill, Cycling Officer provided an update on the Council’s proposals on safer cycle pathway, including a cycle highway alongside the A4 and noted the following key points:

-       The Council would ensure that the design met all the needs of its disabled and less mobile residents as well as businesses in the borough.

-       The pathway would be designed to suit slower, less confident riders and families.

-       It would be designed to improve the environment and protect the high numbers of pedestrians in the borough.

-       The design would seek to maximise pedestrian space and make the transition from pavement to pavement safe and usable for everyone.

-       The A4 cycle highway would shuttle faster, more confident riders and commuters from the border with Chiswick to the Hammersmith gyratory. This provided an alternative route away from the high street.

-       The Council was committed on delivering a healthy streets approach. This aimed to encourage walking, cycling and the use of public transport to tackle poor air quality and reduce car dependency.

Richard Duffill, Cycling Officer explained that the Council welcomed the opportunity to engage with residents, businesses and disabled groups to feed into the design process before it was finalised. To achieve this resident, working groups and drop-in sessions for all stakeholders would be arranged. At these staff would be available to explain the planning proposals and particularly to listen to residents about their views around the development of the scheme. All the suggestions would be gathered for the design and series of working group workshops would be held with the aim to create a final design for the route. Furthermore, approval would be sought from each working group to proceed with the design.

Councillor David Morton commented that whilst he agreed with the worthy objectives of the presentation, the concerns relating to the potential traffic implications along Hammersmith Road as a result of safer cycle pathway and potential developments in the Olympia area needed to be addressed. Richard Duffill explained that the Council had agreed with Transport for London (TfL) to build a fully segregated safer cycle pathway running across the borough from Chiswick down King Street and Hammersmith Road to Kensington Olympia. TfL had designed an outlined scheme, however at this stage the Council was unable to add to these designs until it fully understood the Olympia proposals and what residents wanted to achieve. Drop in sessions would be arranged to encourage engagement and clarify issues concerning residents and input into the detailed design for the two routes. In addition, it was noted that the final designs would factor in the redevelopment of Olympia once this was established.

Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler enquired if there was an option for the Council to not implement the scheme if residents were not in favour of the proposals. In response Richard Duffill explained that the Council was committed to developing two new cycle routes providing better, safer cycling facilities combined with improvements for pedestrians. The route would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Committee is asked to consider its work programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

RESOLVED:

THAT the Committee noted the work programme.

The Committee is invited to resolve, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, that the public and press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business, on the grounds that they contain the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the said Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED:

THAT under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, that the public and press was excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business, on the grounds that they contain the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the said Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

To agree the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 18 June 2019

RESOLVED:

THAT the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 18 June March 2019 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.