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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the stockpiling of food and other essentials in the context of the covid-19 outbreak.

The UK has a highly-resilient food supply chain and a food industry which is experienced in dealing with disruptions to food supply. The expertise, capability and levers to plan for, and respond to, food supply disruption lie predominantly with the industry, but the Government has a supportive role.

This includes extensive and ongoing engagement to support industry in preparedness for, and response to, potential food supply chain disruptions, as well coordinating a joined-up approach to communications and messaging with industry leads based on learnings from the response earlier in the year. The Government response can include relaxation of key regulations to support food supply on driver hours, delivery times, advice on food labelling and on competition law for key sectors.

Whilst we saw an increase in consumer demand at the outset of the pandemic, things have largely stabilised. We remain in regular contact with the supermarkets and industry representatives, who report no overall supply issues.