Westminster Hall
Public Sector Food Procurement - Tue 12 Dec 2023
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Mentions:
1: Anthony Mangnall (Con - Totnes) I beg to move,That this House has considered public sector food procurement and healthy eating.Before - Speech Link
2: Anthony Mangnall (Con - Totnes) DEFRA is responsible for updating public sector procurement standards, and the Department of Health and - Speech Link
3: Neil Hudson (Con - Penrith and The Border) sector food procurement. - Speech Link
4: Neil Hudson (Con - Penrith and The Border) sector food procurement. - Speech Link
5: Anthony Mangnall (Con - Totnes) sector food procurement. - Speech Link
6: Anthony Mangnall (Con - Totnes) sector food procurement. - Speech Link
7: Steven Bonnar (SNP - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill) sector food procurement. - Speech Link

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Written Question

Public Sector: Procurement

Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the National Procurement Policy Statement, published in June 2021, on cybersecurity in public sector procurement processes.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Procurement Act 2023 brings in new powers to exclude and debar companies from public procurement on grounds of national security. The new National Security Unit for Procurement (NSUP), in the Cabinet Office, will work across government to coordinate assessments of companies and support ministers in national security debarment decisions.

In addition, Procurement Policy Note 09/14 requires central government contracting authorities to ensure that for contracts with certain characteristics, suppliers must meet the technical requirements prescribed by Cyber Essentials, including where suppliers store, or process, personal information or data at Official level.

The Cabinet Office encourages all organisations to follow National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) guidance which sets out the security matters to be considered during the procurement process. The National Protective Security Agency (NPSA) has also published guidance to prevent hostile actors exploiting vulnerabilities in supply chains.

The National Procurement Policy Statement sets out the national priorities that all contracting authorities should have regard to in their procurement where it is relevant to the subject matter of the contract and proportionate to do so. The current statement does not include cyber security as a separate, wider policy because the need for cyber security protection is fundamental to procurements where it applies and therefore built into the procurement process as described above. The new legislative statement that will come into force alongside the Procurement Act is currently being drafted and will be subject to a consultation process as set out in Section 13 of the Act.

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Deposited Papers
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Feb. 26 2010

Source Page: Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative: Proportion of domestically produced food used by government departments and also supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS. 19 p.
Document: DEP2010-0520.pdf (PDF)

Found: Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative: Proportion of domestically produced food used by government

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Written Question

Public Sector: Procurement

Thursday 18th January 2024

Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of public sector procurement processes for digital goods and services.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government recognises how vital digital products and services are for delivering public services. The Digital, Data and Technology Playbook provides best practice guidance for the procurement of digital products and services. There are annual updates to ensure it is up to date. The most recent update was in June 2023, found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-digital-data-and-technology-playbook

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Written Question

Public Sector: Procurement

Monday 4th September 2023

Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) reform public procurement supply chains and (b) introduce dynamic procurement systems.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We consulted last summer on options to update our public sector food procurement standards. This included seeking views on ensuring that a diverse range of suppliers, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), are better able to access the public sector. The Government response is due later this year. Meanwhile, we continue to work with the Crown Commercial Service, who are developing a new commercial agreement which will enable public sector buyers to access SME food suppliers through an easy-to-use online portal. More broadly, Defra is working closely with the Cabinet Office to prepare for implementation of the wider procurement reform measures in the Procurement Bill currently being debated in Parliament.

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