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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications of the revised Social Value Model for delivery of the Government's commitment that 50% of publicly procured food should be local or produced to higher environmental standards.

The Government’s new social value rules mean that, from 1 January 2027, businesses bidding for government contracts - a market worth £90bn per year - will be judged on their commitment to creating high-quality British jobs, tackling local skills shortages, and supporting young people into apprenticeships and work placements. DEFRA is keen to ensure these new social value criteria support good jobs and skills within the UK farming industry and support our ambition for at least half of all food purchased by the public sector to be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards.