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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to encourage schools to procure their food from local producers and suppliers.

The Plan for Public Procurement of Food was launched by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with the support of the Prime Minister in July 2014. The Plan seeks to improve the quality of the food served in public establishments through the use of a procurement toolkit which includes a balanced scorecard to assess the value of food and catering contracts. The balanced scorecard rewards businesses which offer high quality, locally sourced and seasonal produce.

Defra has worked closely with the Department for Education sponsored School Food Plan and has commissioned pilots of the balanced scorecard approach with schools taking part in the London Food Board Flagship Food Boroughs initiative. These pilots will build on the very firm foundation laid by the School Food Plan.