Wakefield Council’s Environmental Health service has joined forces with councils across West and South Yorkshire who are publishing the details of their food hygiene inspections as part of the 'Scores on the Doors' scheme.

If you have ever wondered about the standards of food hygiene and cleanliness in a restaurant or café, you can now see for yourself the scores these premises receive after an inspection on our 'Scores on the Doors' website. To view the scores, visit the website (see 'Related Links').

Benefits of the Scheme for the public and food businesses

Publishing information in a way that is easily understandable will enable consumers to make an informed choice of where they eat and where they buy food on food safety and hygiene standards.

The scheme will reward those food businesses that practise high standards of food hygiene. This, in turn, may lead to an increase in business and reward the food business operators for their effort. To those businesses with a lower score, it will act as an incentive to drive up their standards to ensure that their next inspection receives a higher star rating.

How the scheme works

When an officer carries out a full hygiene inspection, the food business is given a score for the standard of hygiene found during the visit. This score is used to determine how frequently the premises are inspected based on parts of the national Code of Practice. The frequency of inspections ranges from every six months, for businesses with a poor standards of hygiene, to every five years for businesses with high standards of hygiene.

Each business is scored on the following criteria:-

• Compliance of food hygiene practices and procedures – including food handling practices, temperature control.
• Compliance in structure – including cleanliness, layout, condition of the structure, lighting, ventilation, washing facilities etc.
• Confidence in Management – the food business operators history of compliance with food hygiene law and evidence of a food safety management system.

During the inspection each criteria is given a score, the total of all three scores then generates the number of stars given to a premises in the following way:-

  Total Score          Star Rating

•  0-5          =    5 stars
• 10-15        =    4 stars
• 20-25        =    3 stars
• 30             =    2 stars
• 35-45        =    1 star
• 50 or more  =    0 stars

Data obtained from food hygiene inspections and held on the Council’s database will update the website on a monthly basis.  Every effort will be made to keep the details up to date, and when we become aware that a business has changed ownership it will be removed from the list until new information is obtained. If you are the proprietor of a food business that has changed ownership since the last inspection, please notify us.

Please Note: the score given to a food business on the website has been based on the latest inspection carried out by the Council and as such it represents the situation as found by the officers on the day of that inspection.  This score may not be representative of the overall long term food hygiene standards of the premises and should not be relied on as a guide to food safety. To find out more visit the Scores on the Doors website (see 'Related Links'), or contact us