Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition regarding food resilience and soil health.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra liaised with the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition regarding nutrition and emergency planning in 2024, resulting in an item at the committee’s 20 June 2024 meeting. Defra has continued to be in contact with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Subgroup on Maternal and Child Nutrition in following years to enable consideration of infant feeding and nutrition to support planning for food supply disruptions.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with devolved administrations and local government regarding food security in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Ministers from all four nations discuss food system issues through the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In addition, officials have regular engagement on a wide range of food security and resilience issues.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to deliver on their manifesto commitment to reform the Government Buying Standard for food and catering services to include a requirement for 50 per cent local and sustainable food; and what the proposed timeline and process for these reforms is.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government is open to considering all lawful means of achieving its ambition that half of all food purchased across the public sector should be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards.

A new national procurement policy statement has been published which sets expectations for government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards that British producers are well-placed to meet.

Data collection on the extent to which public sector settings are serving food from local sustainable sources is currently underway. The department expect the work to be completed by Summer 2027.

Defra is considering the policy options available to deliver further on its ambitions for public sector food, including potentially updating the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential cost savings to caterers, schools, and the NHS of serving a higher proportion of pulses and other plant-based protein in schools and NHS institutions; and the potential of these cost savings to help public institutions afford more organic, local or higher-environmental standard foods.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

No such assessment has been made.

A new national procurement policy statement has been published which sets expectations for government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards that British producers are well-placed to meet.

The NHS Eatwell Guide recognises the valuable contribution of plant-based foods and drinks, illustrating that both plant-based products and animal-based products can be part of a healthy balanced diet.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the variation in waiting times for patients referred to specialist interstitial lung disease centres.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services for people with interstitial lung disease, enabling services to be planned around local needs and supporting more joined-up care. In some regions, hub-and-spoke models are being implemented to support clearer and faster referral pathways between local providers and specialist interstitial lung disease centres.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) recognise blood and the wider blood supply chain as critical national infrastructure; and (2) invest in improving the resilience and redundancy of the UK's blood supply.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As blood services are a devolved matter, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for the blood service in England alone. NHSBT is a critical national infrastructure-owning organisation, and the Department of Health and Social Care works closely with it to review the criticality and resilience of blood services. The Joint Blood Stocks Working Group also brings together the Department of Health and Social Care and NHSBT with NHS England, the National Blood Transfusion Committee, and the Ministry of Defence to strengthen planning and emergency preparedness.

In addition, NHSBT is taking forward work to strengthen the resilience of blood supplies both in business-as-usual operations and during critical incidents, including through its partnerships with Defence Medical Command and the Air Ambulance services. This includes exploring new approaches to transfusion in emergency settings, such as dried plasma, or to the transport of blood samples using drones. This work will support future care in challenging environments, both civilian and defence, and help expand the options to deliver blood services, where it is safe, practical, and operationally beneficial to do so.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish a national blood resilience strategy covering health, defence and civil contingencies.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As blood services are a devolved matter, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for the blood service in England alone. NHSBT is a critical national infrastructure-owning organisation, and the Department of Health and Social Care works closely with it to review the criticality and resilience of blood services. The Joint Blood Stocks Working Group also brings together the Department of Health and Social Care and NHSBT with NHS England, the National Blood Transfusion Committee, and the Ministry of Defence to strengthen planning and emergency preparedness.

In addition, NHSBT is taking forward work to strengthen the resilience of blood supplies both in business-as-usual operations and during critical incidents, including through its partnerships with Defence Medical Command and the Air Ambulance services. This includes exploring new approaches to transfusion in emergency settings, such as dried plasma, or to the transport of blood samples using drones. This work will support future care in challenging environments, both civilian and defence, and help expand the options to deliver blood services, where it is safe, practical, and operationally beneficial to do so.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to invest in the deployment of innovative blood technologies where they may strengthen the resilience and preparedness of the UK's blood supply chains.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As blood services are a devolved matter, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for the blood service in England alone. NHSBT is a critical national infrastructure-owning organisation, and the Department of Health and Social Care works closely with it to review the criticality and resilience of blood services. The Joint Blood Stocks Working Group also brings together the Department of Health and Social Care and NHSBT with NHS England, the National Blood Transfusion Committee, and the Ministry of Defence to strengthen planning and emergency preparedness.

In addition, NHSBT is taking forward work to strengthen the resilience of blood supplies both in business-as-usual operations and during critical incidents, including through its partnerships with Defence Medical Command and the Air Ambulance services. This includes exploring new approaches to transfusion in emergency settings, such as dried plasma, or to the transport of blood samples using drones. This work will support future care in challenging environments, both civilian and defence, and help expand the options to deliver blood services, where it is safe, practical, and operationally beneficial to do so.

Found: Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee Baroness Goudie Baroness Ludford Baroness O’Loan Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick