Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of the milk and dairy products used by the Prison Service in England comes from UK producers; what steps he is taking to increase that proportion; and if he will make a statement.

The Ministry of Justice prison food supply contract is used by 102 Public prisons and 3 Private prisons in England and Wales. Between April 2019 and March 2020, by spend value, 77.1% of all milk and dairy product used was UK produced. The remainder, 22.9% was sourced from the EU.

99% of milk supplied through the contract is British produce.

The prison retail contract offers a range of milk and dairy products for prisoners to purchase. During the period of 1 March to 31 May 2020 77.9% of dairy goods were produced in the UK and 22.1% sourced from the EU.

This national food supply contract for prisons directly encourages the use of UK produce, and includes this as a key performance measure. We will continue to actively manage the contract, and all avenues for the use of UK produce will be explored.