THE UK government’s focus on preparing for Brexit has meant plans to make it mandatory for businesses selling food to display “scores on the doors” have yet to proceed, Bradford Councillors have been told.

Currently places that sell or serve food, from takeaways to pubs, are given a rating by the Food Standards Agency, where five is the highest score and 0 means that business must seriously improve.

Although it is mandatory for businesses in Wales to display their scores, it is voluntary in England.

The ratings issue was raised during a meeting of Bradford Council’s Regeneration and Environment Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday evening, when members were discussing food hygiene in Bradford.

Councillor Martin Love (Green, Shipley) said: “Are we any closer to getting it to be mandatory that businesses have to display their ratings? People who get five star ratings obviously display them proudly, but those who get lower scores most often don’t.”

Angela Brindle, environmental health manager at the Council, said: “When it was made mandatory in Wales the number of premises with a rating of more than three went up, and the numbers with ratings of less than three went down.

“Recently the government had been keen to introduce a mandatory display system, but the focus on Brexit has stalled this unfortunately. It is still on the agenda, and I hope it is something the government is able to tackle once Brexit is out of the way.”

Councillor David Heseltine (Cons, Bingley) said: “In our district we have some very good premises, some medium ones, and then we have a cohort of places who seem to always be around 1 or 2. How long do we tolerate that before we tell them ‘you’re just not making enough progress?'”

Mrs Brindle said: “We do take action in the case of repeat offenders, and that can range from enforcement notices to prosecutions.

“We can only close premises down if there is an immediate risk to health. If a business is constantly getting a one or two rating we can try to get them to improve standards, but we don’t always have the power to shut them down.”

The committee heard that in Bradford, 93 per cent of premises had a rating of three or above – below the national target of 96 per cent.

However, this was much higher than five years ago – in 2013 just 85.9 per cent met that standard.

At the same meeting, Councillors heard of the problems recruiting Environmental Health Officers.

Mrs Brindle explained that after obtaining a degree in environmental health, potential officers then had to become registered, and they did this by working a placement in a council and building up a portfolio of work. She said Bradford Council, like many other cash strapped councils in the country, were unable to offer paid placements, and this was a “stumbling block” in finding qualified recruits.