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Production, and supply of food, in Council catering establishments

Martyn Dewar made this Freedom of Information request to Orkney Islands 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 Orkney Islands 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...

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foi, Orkney Islands Council

Classification: NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

Dear Sir

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 – Request for Information

Thank you for your information request dated 21 August 2023 and received on 21 August 2023. Our reference is FOI 2023-0892. This is being dealt with under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

We are considering your request. We may be in touch soon to ask for further clarification or to offer advice and assistance if we are not able to fulfil your request in its present form.

The legislation allows us up to 20 working days from the date that we receive a valid request, including any clarification we need to make a final response. We will be in touch within 20 working days of receipt of your initial request to provide our response or to seek clarification where necessary. We hope to give you the information you are looking for at an earlier date if possible.

Regards

Katy Russell-Duff
Administrative Officer/FOI Co-ordinator
Strategy, Performance and Business Solutions
Council Offices, School Place, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY
Telephone (01856) 873535 Extension 2210

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foi, Orkney Islands Council

4 Attachments

Classification: OFFICIAL

Dear Sir

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 – Request for Information

I refer to your email dated 21 August 2023 and received on 21 August 2023, our reference is FOI 2023-0892.

I am pleased to give the information you requested, as attached and below, and hope that it meets your requirements.

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].

• Food is produced by the council for all schools in OIC. There are a mix of methods as follows
o CPK
 Papdale (Feeding off site)
• Willow Tree Nursery
• Peedie Breeks Nursery
 Stromness Academy (Feeding off site)
• Orphir School and Nursery
• Stenness School and Nursery
 Hope School (feeding off site)
• Burray School and Nursery
o Production kitchens, servicing just the production school and nursery
 Kirkwall Grammar School
 Dounby School
 Eday
 Evie
 Firth
 Glaitness
 North Walls
 Papa Westray
 Rousay
 Sanday Junior high
 Shapinsay
 Stromness Primary
 St Andrews
 Stronsay Junior High

Orkney Health and Care is a relatively small authority. We do not have central catering for social care meals. There is a variety depending on each separate site. I have attached a spreadsheet labelled ‘FOI 2023-0892 Food Production’ which gives info on different social care settings in which food production is relevant. When meals are made on site, this is from scratch using fresh produce where possible, with individual preference, dietary/nutritional, religious, and cultural needs being taken into consideration.

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:

• All food prepared in house, where food is produced using a CPK kitchen, this will be cooked and sent hot to the site required

This also depends upon the site. Pre-prepared food, e.g. meals or take aways, are sometimes purchased from local businesses. Outside of this, our Frozen Meals are provided by Apetito.

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).

• Please find PDF attached for most main courses supplied in Primary school meals.

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).

Most services do not have recipes that they can include, and there is no ‘catering department’ as such. As per the table, much preparation is based upon personal requirements and preferences. It is really only Adult residential services who use set menus, which are attached, and they have provided some of their basic recipes, also attached, but they do not go into as much information as requested. Recipes from sources such as cook books which hold the information requested have not been included because we do not own the data.

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.

• Not Applicable

There is no standardised information. I have attached menus for those services who use them but they do not always include nutritional/allergen information.

We do have a copy of the nutritional/allergen information for the frozen meals provided by Appetito. However, as this is their information rather than our own data, I have not included it. Their website if more info is required is https://www.apetito.co.uk/our-service/me....

Under FOISA, if you are dissatisfied with our response, you may ask the Council to review its handling of your request. If you wish to do this, you should make your request for review within 40 working days of receiving this email. Please make your request for review to Service Manager (Governance), Council Offices, School Place, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY or email to [Orkney Islands Council request email]. Your request must be in permanent form (letter, email, audio tape etc) and should state:

That you are asking for a review of this decision, and
Why you are unhappy with the response you have received.

We will issue a full response to your request for review within 20 working days of our receiving it.

Where the outcome of the review fails to resolve the matter to your complete satisfaction, you then have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision. You have six months in which to do so following receipt of our review outcome – see www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal.

Regards

Paul Kesterton
Information Governance Officer
Strategy, Performance & Business Solutions
Orkney Islands Council, Council Offices, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY
Telephone: 01856 873535 Extension: 2241
www.orkney.gov.uk

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