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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries to the urgent question entitled Food Price Inflation on 23 March 2023, Official Report, column 432, what her planned timetable is for procuring 50 per cent of public sector food from local or sustainable sources.

We consulted on updates to the Government buying standards for food last year and plan to publish the response this summer. The updated standards will continue to encourage the public sector on a journey towards championing healthier, sustainable food, provided by a diverse range of suppliers.

In updating the standards, we must ensure we meet our domestic and international legal obligations, in particular under the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). There is already guidance available to support public sector contracting authorities to set aside contracts for SMEs and by location, for small contracts if they are under the GPA thresholds (thresholds are circa £200K, depending on the specific public sector body).