A Silverdale Road bakery scored 1 and a Matfield pub scored 2 in July's hygiene ratings. Of the borough's 1,043 rated businesses, 867 hold a 5 and none a zero.

One business in the Tunbridge Wells borough was rated 1 out of 5 for food hygiene in July, and one was rated 2. Every other venue inspected that month scored 3 or better.

July is the first month whose figures can be read in full. The Food Standards Agency publishes a rating of 5 “as soon as the information is uploaded”, but holds ratings of 0 to 4 for three to five weeks after the inspection so the business can appeal first. (FHRS guidance for businesses, GOV.UK) That is why a fresh month always looks perfect, and why the honest month to report is the one just gone.

Fifty seven ratings were published for the borough with a July inspection date:

  • 41 rated 5, very good
  • 11 rated 4, good
  • 3 rated 3, generally satisfactory
  • 1 rated 2, improvement necessary
  • 1 rated 1, major improvement necessary

The two lowest scores

Both were inspected on the same day, 22 July.

Smiths Bakery, listed on the register at Smiths Patisserie, 185 Silverdale Road, Royal Tunbridge Wells TN4 9HT, and registered as a manufacturer or packer, was rated 1. Its three component scores were 10 for hygienic food handling, 20 for the cleanliness and condition of the building, and 20 for confidence in management. (Food Standards Agency register)

The Hopbine Inn, Petteridge Lane, Matfield TN12 7NE, about five and a half miles north east of Royal Tunbridge Wells, was rated 2. Its components were 15 for food handling, 5 for the building and 10 for confidence in management. (Food Standards Agency register)

On the component scale a lower number is better: 0 is very good, 5 good, 10 generally satisfactory, 15 improvement necessary and 20 major improvement necessary. A single 20 is enough to pull a rating down even where the other two are reasonable, which is what happened at the bakery.

Neither business has published a right to reply on its register entry.

The three that scored 3

  • AIP at Lamberhurst St Mary’s C of E School, Pearse Place, Lamberhurst, inspected 13 July: 10, 5 and 10
  • The Barn, Lonsdale Gardens, Royal Tunbridge Wells TN1 1NU, inspected 23 July: 5, 10 and 10
  • Ariana Kebab and Pizza, 58 Liptraps Lane, Royal Tunbridge Wells TN2 3AA, inspected 24 July: 10, 10 and 10

August looks perfect, and that is not yet news

Twenty three ratings carry an August inspection date so far: 21 fives, and two threes, at Signature, 37 Mount Ephraim, on 4 August, and the Village Chippy at Sissinghurst, thirteen miles east of the town, on 6 August. Nothing lower has appeared.

That is what the publication rule produces, not a verdict on August. Any 0, 1 or 2 handed out in the second half of August is still inside its appeal window and will not show up until late September or October. Judge the month when it is finished, not while it is running.

What the whole register says

Across the borough the Food Standards Agency holds 1,081 entries. A further 24 are awaiting their first inspection and 14 are exempt, which leaves 1,043 with a rating.

Food hygiene ratings across Tunbridge Wells borough: 867 businesses rated 5, 118 rated 4, 43 rated 3, 8 rated 2, 7 rated 1 and none rated 0

867 of those, 83.1%, hold the top score of 5. Adding the fours, 985 businesses, or 94.4%, are rated 4 or 5. At the other end there are eight 2s and seven 1s, and not one business in the borough currently holds a 0.

What it means for you

  • Check before you book, not after. Every rating in this piece, and every other one in the borough, is on the Food Standards Agency register, free and searchable by name or street.
  • A rating is a snapshot, not a running score. It records what an officer found on one day. A business that has since put things right keeps the old rating until it is inspected again, or until it pays for and passes a re-rating visit.
  • Low does not automatically mean dirty. Two of the three components are about the state of the building and the operator’s paperwork and systems. The bakery above scored 10 for food handling, the middle of the scale, and 20 twice on the other two.
  • Businesses get a reply and an appeal. There are 21 days from notification to appeal a rating, and a right to reply that can be published on the register at any point before the next inspection. If a business exercises either, it appears on the same page as the score.
  • If you want to see what is opening next, new premises licence applications and their comment deadlines are on our Tunbridge Wells planning news page, and the places already trading are in things to do in Tunbridge Wells.

A rating is a matter of public record and is not a finding of wrongdoing. Any business named here can ask for a re-inspection once it has made improvements, and its score changes on the register when it does.

Sources