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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether academies and free schools will be classed as public settings for the purpose of the Government's ambition that half of all food served in public settings is either locally sourced or certified to higher environmental standards.

The 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. Approximately half the £4.9bn annual spend on public sector food and catering in England is attributable to education settings, which represents a significant opportunity to deliver healthy outcomes for the public, contribute to sustainability goals and support domestic growth.

Defra has published a new national procurement policy statement. It sets expectations for Government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards that we think high-quality British producers are well-placed to meet.

Further, the Government is currently assessing what food the public sector buys and where it comes from. This will help inform our future approach on public sector food procurement, including for state-funded education settings.