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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish his Department's assessment of the implications of a Russian invasion of Ukraine for the (a) UK’s food security and (b) price of grain products in the UK.

The UK has a highly resilient supply chain, with a high degree of food security which is built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production, as well as imports through stable trade routes. Regarding grains, the UK is largely self-sufficient in barley and oats, and 81% self-sufficient in milling wheat (slightly higher for wheat overall), which is the most significant grain crop for food consumption in the UK.

We speak regularly with food industry figures, who remain confident in the food supply chain despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Defra is committed to continually assessing the UK’s food security and price of food, including grain products, and will continue to do so. UK food security assessments are achieved via consistent review and management, working closely with the food and drink sectors and producing a publicly available UK Food Security Report published at least once every three years. At this stage, the large number of possible scenarios means it would be premature to make an assessment of the potential impact on UK grain prices.

We will continue to monitor developments in wheat and other grains and their impacts on other products.