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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he has made towards his Department's target of 50% of food procurement in the public sector being locally sourced.

At January’s Oxford Farming Conference, as part of the Government’s New Deal for Farmers, the Government announced a series of reforms, including, where possible, backing British produce. It was also announced that for the first time ever, the government will review food currently bought in the public sector and where it is bought from. This work will start right away and be a significant first step in understanding how to capitalise on the Government’s purchasing power: informing any changes to public sector food procurement policies in due course.