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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage public bodies to prioritise the purchase of produce from (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.

The new national procurement policy statement sets out requirements for Government contracts, favouring high-quality products that we believe British producers, including those in Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Staffordshire more broadly, are well-placed to supply: aiding our ambition for half of food supplied into public sector catering to be from local producers or those certified to higher environmental standards.