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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that public sector food procurement policies give priority to locally sourced food.

We want the public sector to lead by example, championing local food and farmers, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), high production standards and sustainable produce.

We have a manifesto commitment to encourage the public sector to buy British, to support our farmers and reduce environmental costs. To help meet this commitment, we will be consulting on proposals to strengthen the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services early in 2022. The consultation will seek views on ways to promote greater take-up of local produce and make public procurement more accessible to SMEs.

We are also working across Government to identify and trial new approaches to public food procurement. This includes a pilot in collaboration with Crown Commercial Service, aimed at simplifying the route into the public sector for local and sustainable SME businesses. If successful, the approach will be rolled out nationally, extending opportunities to local food producers from all regions and nations of the UK.