Day 107 - 24 Mar 95 - Page 07
1 you saturate the Environmental Health Authorities and the
2 courts with massive documentation, and the better the
3 documentation looks the more effective the "game". So,
4 that by showing all these documents, one conveys the
5 impression of systems, organisation, thoroughness, and very
6 often it is the weight of documentation not quality of the
7 meaning which conveys the message.
8
9 I call it a "game", in inverted commas, without cynicism in
10 the sense that you have two ritual partners to the game,
11 the authorities on the one side and the food industry on
12 the other. Having been on both sides of being an
13 Enforcement Officer and in the industry, we do play these
14 games; we produce documentation, we keep sets of
15 documentation for the enforcing officers in order to claim
16 due diligence if the case may arise, which bear absolutely
17 no or little or marginal relation to the actual operation
18 of the organisation, or sometimes even tailor the operation
19 -----
20
21 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think we have gone away from -- you have
22 given the answer early on.
23 A. Sorry.
24
25 MR. MORRIS: Your visit to McDonald's store was in Leeds, was
26 it?
27 A. Yes, it was.
28
29 Q. Do you want to give a sketch of your impression?
30 A. Yes. It is located in a modern city centre complex in
31 Leeds, in the new part of the town. Brightly lit --
32 typical of what one might expect of McDonald's. Within the
33 working area at the time I visited, I thought it was
34 spacious, good condition, well finished, good materials,
35 clean and sufficiently accessible to allow that judgment to
36 be made. So, that I was able to see stores, under-fittings
37 behind certain equipment, and within the constraints of the
38 time of my inspection I would mark it as clean.
39
40 To my observation, limited though it was, no visible
41 operational deficiencies, and layout seemed to be well
42 ordered. I was taken through it and it was described to
43 me; it is definitely an ordered thought-out, coherent
44 flow. Staff looked well, looked well dressed, looked tidy
45 and presentable, with a unit manager -- I did not speak to
46 any other staff -- who was able to acquit himself very well
47 in terms of knowing what he was doing and why he was doing
48 it.
49
50 Q. First of all, were you visiting during a busy period or a
51 quiet period?
52 A. No, it was a quiet period. It was mid-afternoon. It
53 was described to me as a quiet period and some of the
54 equipment was not in use for that reason.
55
56 Q. We did request, did we not, to visit during a busy period?
57 A. Yes, that was my original understanding.
58
59 Q. And they refused?
60 A. That is between you.
