Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the recent report published by Barnardo’s and the Co-op, Deeper Roots, Stronger Futures: Unlocking the Potential of Food Partnerships with Young People, what assessment have they made of the role of food partnerships in supporting young people; and whether this will be reflected in their upcoming youth strategy.

We will review this report as part of our work to develop a new National Youth Strategy. The Strategy is being co-produced with young people and stakeholders working with and for young people, and the breadth of issues it covers will be shaped by our engagement.

The strategy will aim to better coordinate youth services, as well as move away from one-size-fits all approaches from central government, bringing power back to young people and their communities and rebuilding a thriving and sustainable sector. We will be publishing the strategy in the autumn.

Alongside this, The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ food strategy will articulate the outcomes we want from the food system enabling government, civil society, and the food industry to work to shared goals and priorities. Local and place-based approaches will have a key role to play in delivery of these outcomes. The government will continue to work with partners across the food system as we develop our approach.