Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including food supply disruption as a specific planning scenario for local resilience forums

Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) are responsible for assessing risks that may impact their local area through Community Risk Registers and for developing plans against a range of nationally and locally identified risks, informed by the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) and associated planning assumptions. Risks within the NSRA are assessed against reasonable worst-case scenarios with input from relevant subject matter experts. The NSRA assigns clear ownership of risks to the relevant Lead Government Department and considers both specific risks and their wider consequences through linked and cascading scenarios.

Food-related risks are considered within the national risk framework, including through risks owned by DEFRA and the Food Standards Agency. Decisions on food supply planning assumptions and food resilience policy therefore sit primarily with DEFRA as the Lead Government Department.