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Production, and supply of food, in Council catering establishments

Martyn Dewar made this Freedom of Information request to Moray Council as part of a batch sent to 32 authorities This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

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Martyn Dewar
Delivered

Dear Moray Council,

I am writing to make a formal request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, for information held by your Council about the food production methods and catering procedures employed within the Council’s catering establishments.

For the purposes of clarity, I am referring, primarily, to food supplied in schools; but, where applicable, if the Council has other catering offerings (such as cafés in museums, meals-on-wheels provision for social care, or staff restaurants), I would be pleased if you would include them.

## Food Production Methods:

RFI 1: Does the Council produce food for its catering outlets in-house? If so, please clarify whether this is carried out on a central site (e.g., central production unit), or within each individual site. If there is a mixture of both, please clarify, where possible [1].

RFI 2: If food is not produced in-house, please provide details on whether it is produced by a third-party facilities contractor (e.g., under a PFI agreement), or purchased from external sources, in frozen (or chilled) format.

## Recipe and Cooking Method Information:

RFI 3: In the event that the Council produces food in-house, please supply a copy of the recipes, and cooking / preparation methods utilised by the catering department for standardised food items. I would imagine that this information would be readily available, owing to standardisation of menu items [2].

This would include information on ingredients, preparation steps, cooking temperatures, and any relevant nutritional considerations (e.g., it might be noted on menus that certain items are suitable for those on restricted diets, or that some menu items have specific allergens).

RFI 4: If you do not produce food in-house, please confirm whether you hold standardised information as to what items are available (e.g., menus, and nutritional / allergen information), and supply a copy, where possible.

My preference would be to receive any correspondence electronically (as afforded under §11(2)(a) of FoISA), ideally in a format that allows for contents to be interpreted using screen reading software.

If the Council intends to supply redacted correspondence, I should be grateful if it would ensure that the text itself is "readable", e.g., by ensuring that content is not supplied merely in image format. Similarly, if there is data held in a spreadsheet format, please supply Excel or CSV files - a PDF may, for example, not allow for easy interpretation of the data.

I would hope that the bulk of this information is readily available, given the standardised nature of many catering services (particularly in schools, and social care); however, if it is likely that a "costs" issue will come into play, I would be happy, in the first instance, to limit my request solely to your school catering establishments.

I look forward to hearing from you within the statutory timescale, however, should you require any clarity, please do not hesitate in contacting me.

Yours faithfully,

Martyn Dewar

[1] for example, schools may well use a "hub-and-spoke" model, where a kitchen in a larger school supplies food, either in hot, or chilled form, for schools in its area. Alternatively, a cook freeze supply-and-reheat operation might be in place.

[2] e.g., to comply with the Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020: https://www.gov.scot/publications/health...

Link to this Report
Moray Council

Title: Production and Supply of Food in Council Buildings

Reference: 101003380700

Dear Mr Dewar

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

Thank you for your information request Production and Supply of Food in Council Buildings received 2023-08-21. This is being dealt with in terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

In order to co-ordinate your request, I am acting as your central point of contact and can be contacted by email at [Moray Council request email]

We have 20 working days to deal with your request from the date that we received it, but we will provide you with the information you are looking for at an earlier date where possible. Your request and our response will be posted on our disclosure log within the FOI section on our website. No personal information will be included. A copy of our privacy notice can be viewed at http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/p...

Please note that The Moray Council owns copyright in the material supplied in response to your enquiry unless otherwise stated. The supply of documents and information by the Council does not give the person or organisation who receives them the right to re-use the documents in a way which would infringe copyright under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Such material is not to be used commercially without permission from the copyright holder.

Should this information be reused for commercial purposes the information will be subject to the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015. Under these regulations the Council is entitled to charge a fee for the re-use of information.

If you are dissatisfied in any way with the manner in which the Council has dealt with your request for information, you are entitled to ask the Council to review within 40 working days its actions and decisions. If you would like a review of the decision please write to the Information Governance Manager and Data Protection Officer, Elgin Library, Cooper Park, Elgin, IV30 1HS, or email [email address]. A review panel will convene and has 20 working days to consider and respond to your appeal. All appeal requests must be made in writing.

If you are still dissatisfied with the outcome of this review, then you may appeal within 6 months by writing to the Scottish Information Commissioner via their online appeal service at www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal or to Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9DS.

Further information on the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 can be obtained by visiting www.moray.gov.uk or the Scottish Information Commissioner's website, www.itspublicknowledge.info.

Yours sincerely

Jacqui Graham
Information Co-ordinator
01343 563110
The Moray Council
[Moray Council request email]

Link to this Report
Moray Council

2 Attachments

Reference: 101003380700

Dear Mr Dewar

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

Thank you for your information request concerning Production and Supply of Food in Council Buildings dated 2023-08-21. This is being dealt with under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

The response to your information request can be found on the Council's website http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/p... (please note that it can take up to 1 hour for the website to update).

Please note that The Moray Council owns copyright in the material supplied in response to your enquiry unless otherwise stated. The supply of documents and information by the Council does not give the person or organisation who receives them the right to re-use the documents in a way which would infringe copyright under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Such material is not to be used commercially without permission from the copyright holder.

Should this information be reused for commercial purposes the information will be subject to the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015. Under these regulations the Council is entitled to charge a fee for the re-use of information.

If you are dissatisfied in any way with the manner in which the Council has dealt with your request for information, you are entitled to ask the Council to review its actions and decisions. If you would like a review of the decision please write to the Information Governance Manager and Data Protection Officer, Elgin Library, Cooper Park, Elgin, IV30 1HS, or email [email address]. A review panel will convene and has 20 working days to consider and respond to your appeal. All appeal requests must be made in writing.

If you are still dissatisfied with the outcome of this review, then you may appeal within 6 months by writing to the Scottish Information Commissioner via their online appeal service at www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal or to Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9DS.

Further information on the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 can be obtained by visiting www.moray.gov.uk or the Scottish Information Commissioner's website, www.itspublicknowledge.info.

Yours sincerely

Imke Henderson
Information Co-ordinator
01343 563110

The Moray Council
[Moray Council request email]

Link to this Report
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