Transparency data

Progress against the economic growth goals: FSA Business Committee

Published 14 September 2026

Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales

Report by Legislative and Regulatory Strategy Unit

1. Summary

1.1 This paper sets out the economic growth goals which the FSA has agreed as part of the government’s Regulation for Growth agenda; the progress achieved against each goal; and the approach that will be used to track performance over time.

1.2 We will provide quarterly reports to the Business Committee detailing progress and key milestones delivered against the goals.

2. Introduction

2.1 The FSA is one of the key regulators identified by the government as having potential to meaningfully impact economic growth as part of its Regulatory Action Plan.

2.2 In summer 2026, His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST, formerly DSIT and DBT) asked sponsor departments to set a small number of measurable, outcome-focused growth goals for each key regulator, aligned with the government’s Growth Mission and its 7 pillars in the Plan for Change.

2.3 We expect DBIST and sponsor departments to continue to hold regulators to account for delivering these goals, following recent ministerial changes. We received a commission from DBIST through our sponsor department DHSC on 5 August requesting an update on progress made against the growth goals and wider Regulation for Growth work.

3. Evidence and discussion

3.1 The FSA has fully supported the government’s Regulation for Growth work. The goals we have agreed with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) relate to various FSA workstreams on which the board has provided regular strategic direction and endorsement.

3.2 The goals recognise our ongoing work to support economic growth, reduce trade barriers, and enable innovation in the food sector, while maintaining high standards of food safety and consumer protection. The agreed goals have been set out in a published letter to the FSA chair from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention.

3.3 Details of the goals we have committed to, and progress against each growth goal, are summarised on this page. For each milestone, a red/amber/green (RAG) rating and summary of delivery progress are provided.

Goal 1: support delivery of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with the EU to maintain food standards and safety and remove trade barriers

Outcome goal

Support delivery of the government’s commitment to secure and implement an SPS agreement with the EU to maintain food standards and safety while removing barriers to trade.

Key result

The FSA will aim to have made the necessary operational and policy changes to deliver dynamic alignment by mid-2027, while maintaining food and feed safety.

This includes delivery of food safety and standards legislation. This is all of the legislation within the FSA’s remit, including around 80 pieces of legislation out of approximately 500 that will be affected by the SPS agreement. This will remove trade barriers with the EU on agri-food areas of trade.

The FSA’s work should also lead to businesses being aware of the impacts of the agreement and ready to implement changes. The FSA will support cross-government efforts to ensure businesses across the UK understand how the agreement will impact them.

Impact narrative

The FSA’s core function of maintaining a regulatory framework for food safety and standards already facilitates exports worth over £24 billion a year. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has estimated that the SPS agreement could add up to £5.1 billion to the UK economy each year.

The FSA will play a substantial role in the cross-government programme to deliver negotiation and implementation of the agreement, including legislative realignment, and to support business readiness, which is critical to bringing benefits to the UK economy.

Progress

Milestone	Status	Progress against milestone
Support government negotiations and preparation for implementation of an SPS agreement with the EU.	🟩 On track	The FSA continues to support negotiations and implementation planning. Work is underway on legislative preparation, digital and border readiness, and business readiness activity. Extensive programme planning has been completed, placing the FSA in a strong position to support delivery once further government decisions are taken.

3.4 The FSA has been actively supporting ongoing negotiations. Negotiations are expected to resume in September.

3.5 Implementation and business readiness efforts are ongoing, focusing on supporting Defra and the Cabinet Office on legislative preparation, digital and borders readiness, and on raising external awareness of the agreement. At the time of drafting, the date of the postponed EU summit is to be agreed, with details expected in the coming weeks. Whilst we await the new Prime Minister’s steers, the FSA has carried out extensive planning through its SPS programme and is well-placed to respond across delivery work. On this basis, we consider the FSA is on track to deliver its commitments under this goal.

Goal 2: national approach to regulation for large food businesses in England

Outcome goal

Develop a new national approach to regulation for large food businesses in England.

Key result

The FSA will deliver an effective, resilient and trusted regulatory system that is fit for the future. This will ensure that food is safe and what it says it is, reducing unnecessary burdens and keeping consumers safe. See milestones on this page.

Impact narrative

A new national approach to regulation supports the Chancellor’s commitment to deliver regulation in a proportionate way that reduces the administrative burden of regulation on businesses. Subject to further policy development work, we currently expect that these reforms are likely to require primary and secondary legislation. Using centralised data and streamlined processes, it will ensure the sector and consumers can benefit from modern, efficient and effective regulation which:

• supports growth
• reduces unnecessary burdens
• keeps consumers safe

Progress

Milestone	Status	Progress against milestone
July 2026: establish technical working groups and advisory arrangements to support detailed policy design and development for the Future of Food Regulation programme.	🟨 In progress	The programme has refined its approach and will establish a single Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) with cross-representative expertise rather than multiple advisory groups, with individual themed conversations as needed. Draft terms of reference have been developed, and work is underway to finalise membership, governance arrangements and operating principles. Formal establishment of the TAC is expected following September board consideration.
September 2026: report to the FSA board on progress towards detailed design of a future regulatory system.	🟩 On track	A board paper has been prepared for publication ahead of the September board meeting. It sets out progress to date and seeks agreement on the proposed next phase of programme delivery.
March 2027: develop and publish detailed proposals for consultation on a future national approach to regulation.	🟩 On track	Detailed workplans through to March 2027 have been developed. This has been supported by policy design activity, legislative mapping, stakeholder engagement, governance development and initiation of supporting data workstreams.

3.6 Since the FSA board agreed to establish the Future of Food Programme in March, the team has put the programme in place in parallel with completion of a 3-month policy sprint looking across all 6 workstreams agreed by the FSA board at its March meeting. Legislative mapping, initiation of a data workstream, and significant stakeholder engagement have taken place in parallel. The team has also ensured that there are robust governance and stakeholder plans in place. This work has helped the team to formulate proposals for the next phase of work, subject to discussion and agreement by the FSA board in September. The next phase will then create detailed proposals to publish as part of the FSA board papers planned for March 2027. The FSA is on track to deliver its commitments under this goal.

Goal 3: deliver a regulatory sandbox programme for cell-cultivated products

Outcome goal

Supporting business to bring forward new and innovative products through clear regulation.

Key result

The FSA will aim to deliver a regulatory programme (known as a sandbox) for cell-cultivated products (CCPs), from February 2025 to February 2027.

This sandbox enables the FSA and Food Standards Scotland to work with industry, academic bodies and other experts to gather knowledge about these new-to-market products to inform the regulatory approach. A full list of 8 industry representatives, 3 academic bodies, and 2 trade bodies was published in the FSA’s Business Committee paper, March 2025 (archived).

The sandbox outcome will be that, by February 2027, the CCP industry has a clearer understanding of what information they need to provide to achieve regulatory approval. This will be delivered through a new business support service and the publication of bespoke industry advice.

The overall key performance indicators (KPIs) for the programme are:

• industry understands and can use the guidance to inform their decisions about what data to include in safety dossiers
• enhanced engagement with prospective applicants and current applicants compared to pre-sandbox
• guidance published regularly about common safety hazards and tests companies need to conduct to generate data to prove mitigation
• published positions on important policy questions, considered and agreed on a 4-nation basis
• increased clarity about regulatory process to improve investor confidence

Impact narrative

Oxford Economics estimates that CCPs could contribute up to £2.1 billion to the UK economy by 2030. The FSA’s work will help to:

• attract investment in Great Britain through innovative food products
• enhance Great Britain’s role as a global leader in food safety regulation

Progress

Milestone	Status	Progress against milestone
Deliver the CCP sandbox programme and publish outputs that provide regulatory clarity for industry.	🟩 On track	The sandbox programme continues to work with industry, academic partners and technical experts to address key scientific and regulatory questions. Outputs are being developed and published to provide greater clarity on evidence requirements, regulatory expectations and the authorisation process for businesses developing CCP products. This supports business confidence and helps create a clearer regulatory pathway for innovative products.

3.7 The sandbox has provided industry with greater clarity on regulatory requirements, evidence expectations and the authorisation process. This is helping businesses engage earlier with the regulatory process and supporting confidence in the UK regulatory environment for innovative food products.

3.8 The programme is at an advanced stage, with the majority of outputs either published or nearing publication, so the risk to delivering regulatory clarity for industry through this goal is now low. The sandbox team continues to engage directly with current and prospective applicants through the Business Support Service, maintaining momentum and supporting confidence in the UK regulatory environment for innovative products.

3.9 The FSA is on track to deliver its commitments under this goal. A [full report on progress] is being separately presented to the Business Committee.(https://foodgov.sharepoint.com/sites/POF-FSABoardDocuments-BusinessCommittee2/SitePages/FSA-Business-Committee-Papers-and-Agenda-02-September-2026.aspx#regulatory-sandbox-for-cell-cultivated-products).

Goal 4: using modern technology and AI approaches

Outcome goal

Use modern technology and intelligence-led approaches, including artificial intelligence (AI), to strengthen the delivery of official controls, core regulatory responsibilities, and food incident management, focusing regulatory effort where risks to consumers are greatest, while supporting the safe and appropriate use of AI by food businesses.

Key results

See milestones on this page.

Impact narrative

The FSA will work with partner safety regulators to ensure that regulatory approaches keep pace with technological change in the food system, supporting innovation for the UK operating within the global food system, while maintaining strong protections for consumers. A shared approach to the use of AI and AI-generated data will provide consistency for businesses, minimise friction dealing with the regulation, and underpin trusted, evidence-based regulation.

Within the FSA, greater use of AI will strengthen risk assessment, intelligence gathering and decision-making across official controls and food incident management. By improving the quality, timeliness and use of regulatory data, the FSA will be better equipped to anticipate emerging risks, respond rapidly to incidents, and focus regulatory effort where it has the greatest impact. This will deliver clearer regulatory expectations for industry and better outcomes for consumers, for example faster and more effective food recalls.

Full implementation and scaling will be dependent upon the feedback from the pilot.

Progress to date

Milestone	Status	Progress against milestone
September 2026: pilot AI-enabled tools within priority official controls, audit and food incident management activities to improve risk assessment, intelligence analysis, evidence handling and reporting.	🟩 On track	Two pilots are currently underway. The first is testing voice-to-text technology in meat plants to improve the capture of inspection information and reduce administrative effort. The second is the Food System Intelligence Hub pilot, which is testing how intelligence and incident data can be brought together and analysed to identify emerging risks and better target regulatory effort.
December 2026: replace manual, duplicate handling of incident, inspection and intelligence data with AI-assisted workflows that automatically capture, validate and share information in real time.	🟩 On track	Design and development activity is progressing through the Technology Transformation Strategy. This work is focused on reducing manual data handling, improving the quality and consistency of information, and enabling more efficient sharing of regulatory intelligence.
March 2027: demonstrate improved regulatory outcomes through enhanced risk prioritisation, quicker identification and management of food incidents, and more effective food recalls.	🟩 On track	Evaluation arrangements are being developed alongside the pilots. Assessment will focus on improvements to intelligence analysis, incident management, evidence handling and operational decision-making, informing decisions on future deployment and scaling.

3.10 The FSA is on track to deliver its commitments under this goal and has moved from planning into delivery, with AI-enabled pilots now live in operational settings. The FSA is testing how technology can improve intelligence, information management and decision-making while reducing administrative burden. Pilots include:

Food Safety Intelligence (FSI) Hub and Workplace AI

• discovery and proof of concept completed in March 2026. Demonstrated potential of workplace AI tool to provide deeper and quicker analysis of datasets
• pilot phase runs from July to September 2026; the pilot is further testing Workplace AI capabilities against priority intelligence datasets to improve search, discovery and analysis of information used in food system risk assessment. User testing and evaluation during the pilot will help determine whether the capability can improve intelligence-led decision-making, support earlier identification of emerging risks, and provide sufficient evidence to inform future deployment decisions
• evaluation will conclude in September with structured user testing and assessment activities, including the FSI Hub ‘testathon’ on 17 September 2026

Microsoft 365 Copilot

• exposed more than 400 colleagues to AI-assisted working and demonstrated measurable benefits in productivity, document creation, meeting processing and accessibility
• overall satisfaction averaged 7.1 out of 10, with the strongest benefits seen in summarisation, drafting and inclusion support
• the programme has now shifted from evaluating individual productivity gains towards identifying organisation-wide use cases and building the evidence base for wider AI adoption; this included workshops to identify priority use cases for the development of AI agents
• Phase 2 commenced May 2026 and is now drawing to a close. The evaluation is now in the final evidence-gathering stage and will report in September

AI-assisted delivery with GitHub Copilot

• data team working with the Government Digital Service AI Engineering Lab to pilot GitHub Copilot licences. Original licences provided by GDS
• used by the data team to support the design and development of services associated with charging modernisation, FBO account foundations, and the transition away from legacy services
• by providing AI-assisted support for software development, testing, documentation and technical design activities, the capability is helping teams accelerate delivery while maintaining appropriate technical and governance controls
• delivered in August, and GitHub Copilot licences now purchased by the FSA.

FBO simplification of data collection (voice to text)

• exploring how digital and AI-enabled tools could support more efficient recording, processing and reporting of inspection findings. The principal focus of this work is to validate whether voice to text is a viable option in the environmental conditions of meat plants
• started in June, with proof of concept testing drawing to a close in September

3.11 Pilot activity is being used to validate use cases, gather operational feedback and refine solutions. Full scaling depends on pilot outcomes, continued improvements to data quality and interoperability, and robust governance, assurance and transparency arrangements as capabilities scale. The FSA’s Technology Transformation Strategy invests in the data and digital foundations needed for safe, scalable adoption.

Goal 5: healthier food targets and reporting

Outcome goal

Support the delivery of government priorities in the 10 Year Health Plan to ensure access to safe, healthier and sustainable food.

Key result

A key result of this DHSC policy will be the introduction of a mandatory reporting scheme and targets for some businesses. Healthier food reporting intends to drive positive change across the sector by generating accessible, reliable and comparable information, so that government, industry, and consumers have a clear picture of what is being sold and how healthy products are.

Healthier food targets aim to improve the healthiness of sales. Depending on funding, the FSA’s role would be to input and advise on enforcement elements of the scheme. Subject to DHSC-led legislation and public consultation, the FSA may subsequently be responsible for regulating the scheme.

Impact narrative

Overweight and obesity, along with poor diet, are major risk factors for serious and long-term diseases. They cost the UK economy up to £30.8 billion per year and 0.5% to 1.2% of gross domestic product (GDP) through reduced productivity and labour supply. Healthier food targets and reporting will increase transparency in the food sector, helping to:

• ensure a fair and consistent approach across the food sector
• encourage a healthier food environment

These policies support the shift from treatment to prevention envisaged in the 10 Year Health Plan, to:

• reduce long-term pressure on the NHS
• improve workforce participation and productivity

Progress

Milestone	Status	Progress against milestone
Establish the arrangements required to support delivery of HFTR advice to DHSC.	🟩 On track	The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between DHSC and the FSA has been agreed and signed, establishing delivery arrangements and funding to support the FSA’s advisory role. The programme commenced in August 2026.
Build capability and provide regulatory, enforcement and implementation advice to DHSC.	🟩 On track	Recruitment is underway to establish a multidisciplinary team, while existing staff are already providing advice and undertaking preparatory planning activity to support future programme delivery.
Support development of future enforcement and oversight arrangements for HFTR.	🟩 On track	The FSA is providing advice to help ensure enforcement and regulatory considerations are incorporated into policy development and that future arrangements are practical, proportionate and deliverable.

3.12 The advisory work being undertaken by the FSA is underpinned by a memorandum of understanding (MoU), which has now been agreed and signed by DHSC and the FSA. Under this arrangement, DHSC will release funding to the FSA to deliver advice on HFTR enforcement and regulatory practicalities, supporting the development of the HFTR policy. The FSA commenced this role in August 2026 and will continue this work for the remainder of the financial year.

3.13 To deliver this advisory work, the FSA is in the process of recruiting a multidisciplinary team, which is expected to be onboarded by October 2026. While recruitment is underway, the FSA is already providing early advice and support to DHSC and undertaking preparatory planning activity to support future enforcement and regulatory design work.

3.14 There is an expectation that the FSA will continue to support DHSC through the development of enforcement and oversight arrangements for HFTR through policy development process activities, including any relevant consultation and government responses within the next quarter.

3.15 The FSA’s current work remains independent of any decision on who may be the regulator. The advisory and preparatory work being undertaken will help ensure that enforcement and regulatory considerations are reflected from an early stage in policy development, supporting the design of a scheme that is practical, proportionate and capable of delivering the intended policy outcomes.

3.16 Delivery of the advisory programme is dependent on the successful recruitment and onboarding of the planned multidisciplinary team within the expected timeframe. Competition for specialist skills may impact the pace at which capacity can be established. A period of organisational learning and capability building will be required as new team members are onboarded, and programme activity scales up. Timelines and milestones for delivery of FSA work are also contingent on DHSC’s consultation on policy proposals.

Tracking progress on the growth goals

3.17 Government will track progress through DBIST’s regulator performance monitoring, with updates provided on a quarterly basis. In addition, progress will be assessed through biannual performance reviews between the FSA and our DHSC minister.

4. Conclusions

4.1 By continuing to progress the milestones against each goal every quarter, we will help ensure their delivery within the timeframes agreed with DHSC and DBIST.

4.2 We remain committed to supporting the government’s work to improve regulation. We remain clear that the best way in which the FSA can support economic growth is to do our job as a food safety and standards regulator as effectively and efficiently as possible.