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Our governance

Details of the Food Standards Agency Boards and sub-committees.

Chief Executive and Directors

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Members of the FSA Board, including attendances, engagements, and expenses

As a member of the FSA Board, all personal or business interests that may be perceived to influence their judgement should be declared.

Such interests include involvement in agriculture, food and related industries.

Current FSA Board Members

Board Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference for the FSA Board and Standing Orders for FSA Board Meetings

Board Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct for Members of the Board of the FSA

Board attendance

The record of Board Members’ attendance at FSA Board, Business Committee and Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) meetings is available below.

Board member engagements

The record of engagements undertaken by Board members for the past year is available to download.

Board expenses

Details of the business expenses of Board memberscan be found on data.food.gov.uk.

Board Operating Framework

Our aims

The Food Standards Agency was established by the Food Standards Act 1999as an independent government department working to protect public health and consumers’ wider interests in relation to food in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

Our mission is food you can trust. This means a food system in which:

  • food is safe
  • food is what it says it is
  • food is healthier and more sustainable

Our governance

The Board of the Agency is collectively responsible for all of the Agency’s activities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Board is accountable to the Westminster Parliament through the Secretary of State for Health, to the Senedd, and to the Northern Ireland Assembly through the Health Ministers in Wales and Northern Ireland. We produce an annual report of our activities and performance which is laid before the Westminster Parliament, the Senedd, and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The Board regulates its own procedures in accordance with Food Standards Act 1999, Schedule 1, 9 (1).This Board Operating Framework brings together all of the Board’s procedures into a governance framework for the FSA. 

Our ways of working

We are committed to operating in an open and transparent way. As an organisation we will be accessible to and actively communicate with all our stakeholders. Our decisions and the information on which they are based will be recorded and accessible, so that any organisation or individual can make informed judgements about the way in which we are carrying out our functions.

Our pledge is to put the consumer first in everything we do. We will strive to gain and maintain the trust, respect and confidence of all our stakeholders. We will learn from experience and actively seek feedback to improve continually the ways in which we work. We aim always to provide the best possible service. You can find out more in our Statement of General Objectives and Practices, and our Policy on Openness

Committees of the Food Standards Agency Board

Business Committee

The Business Committee is a body which exists to provide appropriate high-level oversight of operational matters, including performance and use of resources (financial and human resources), at Board level and to hold the Executive to account on delivery of its plans and policies.

Business Committee meetings will not be held in public, but a report of each meeting will be included on the agenda for each FSA Board meeting and published so that it is clear to interested parties and the public on what basis it has taken its’ recommendations to the Board to approve and what evidence it has considered in reaching them.  Papers considered by the Business Committee will be published as an annex to the report to the Board unless there are particular reasons why specific papers cannot be published.

Committee Members

Committee Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference for the business committee

Audit and Risk Assurance Committee

The Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) is a committee of the FSA Board.

ARAC is responsible for reviewing, in a non-executive capacity, the reliability of assurances on governance, risk management and the control environment. It is also responsible for reviewing the integrity of financial statements and the Food Standards Agency Annual Report and Accounts.

Committee Members

Executive Attendees

Committee Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference for the ARAC.

WFAC: Welsh Food Advisory Committee

The Welsh Food Advisory Committee acts as an independent advisory body to the Food Standards Agency. It is chaired by the Wales Board member. Its role is to advise the Agency on food and feed safety and standards issues, with an emphasis on Wales.

WFAC Committee Members

Meetings

Information about upcoming meetings and information from past meetings.

Upcoming meetings

Meetings are scheduled for:

  • 23 April 2026
  • 9 July 2026
  • 22 October 2026

Find minutes and papers from previous WFAC meetings

Register your interest

Should you wish to register your interest for attending any of these meetings, please email the WalesAdminTeam@food.gov.uk confirming the date of the meeting you would like to attend.

NIFAC: Northern Ireland Food Advisory Committee

The Northern Ireland Food Advisory Committee acts as an independent advisory body to the Food Standards Agency. It is chaired by the Northern Ireland Board member. Its role is to advise the Agency on food safety and standards issues, with emphasis onto Northern Ireland.

NIFAC committee members

Meetings

Information about upcoming meetings and information from past meetings.

Upcoming meetings

Meetings are scheduled for:

Register your interest

If you would like to register your interest to attend any of these meetings, please email the infofsani@food.gov.uk confirming the date of the meeting you wish to attend.

Previous meetings

Agenda and papers for NIFAC meetings that took place on the following dates:

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

Archive

Find previous meeting papers from 2016 to 2020  (National Archives)

Find previous meeting papers from 2015  (National Archives)

Find previous meeting papers 2011 - 2014  (National Archives)

Team contact

Northern Ireland Food Advisory Committee

Email: infofsani@food.gov.uk

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