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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has for the public procurement of sheep meat in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

The Government already requires all Government Departments to follow the “Balanced Scorecard” methodology and the "Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering” when buying food and services, and making catering decisions. These standards require all meat products to meet UK minimum standards and encourage sourcing of seasonal produce.

In the event of a ‘no deal’, we are preparing contingency plans to minimise as much as possible the disruption across the range of our food and farming sectors. The Prime Minister and Secretary of State have made clear that we will support vulnerable sectors, such as our sheep farmers through Government intervention should this be necessary.