Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of the Border Target Operating Model on levels of food waste.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Border Target Operating Model proposes a new control regime for imports of animal and plant products. It will implement an innovative, risk-based approach to border controls for imports ensuring that goods can flow and checks, delays and waste are minimised.
As set out in our Food Strategy published in 2022, the resilience and reliability of food supply chains is a key objective of this Government.
The draft Border Target Operating Model was developed with input from business. Our innovative and risk-based approach to border controls will limit complexity for businesses, whilst providing the critical border controls that will keep the UK safe from a range of biosecurity, human health and security threats.
Many food products will require no new certification or checks, and where they are needed importers will be able to complete them more simply. Some businesses may need to adapt their business models, and we will support them to do that.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the monetary value of the benefits delivered by urban wetlands.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady Parliamentary Question of 22 May is attached.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which consultations published by their Department are awaiting a response; and when each of those responses (a) were initially planned to and (b) will be published.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Information is available on gov.uk on all open and closed consultations published by the Cabinet Office including the closing date for open consultations and, where available, the Government's response.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on promotional materials for cost of living support payments.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The promotion of cost of living payments was funded by both the Department of Work and Pensions and Cabinet Office at different times in the 2022/23 Financial Year.
Cabinet Office publishes expenditure on a rolling monthly basis on gov.uk as part of routine government transparency arrangements. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-spend-data.
The Department for Work and Pensions publishes details of all departmental spending over £25,000 on a monthly basis. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-payments-over-25-000.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) number and (b) destinations of all domestic flights taken by officials in his Department in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department. Comprehensive details of Senior Officials’ Business Expenses, encompassing domestic flights are available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what food and drink wholesale companies were consulted by the Government ahead of the publication of the Buying Better Food Agreement PIN.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The tender for the proposed Buying Better Food Agreement has not yet been published. Invitations to Tender are expected in Summer 2023, with the contract going live in Spring 2024.
Crown Commercial Service (CCS) have followed the public sector regulations by issuing a PIN notice, which is published on the government Find a Tender Service, used for all public sector opportunities. This notified the market of our intentions, and invited willing participants to engage with us.
As a result of this, a cross-section of the food and drink supply chain has been engaged and consulted through CCS’ ongoing market engagement process. These include micro SME producers to Tier 1 national providers.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department made an assessment of the potential merits of adding the terms and conditions set out in the Buying Better Foods agreement to existing public sector food frameworks such as TUCO and ESPO.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
SMEs in the food supply chain were consulted as part of supplier engagement activities. Feedback from these activities shaped the procurement strategy for the proposed framework agreement.
SME producers will have increased opportunities to work with the public sector. Customers will be able to request nominated local products (subject to the local supplier/producer meeting the minimum technical standards). These products would be consolidated into a single delivery with their food order.
Many other Public Buying Organisations (PBOs) offer food and or drink commercial solutions, to the public sector which is not managed by CCS as a central government organisation. CCS consulted with a number of PBO’s as part of their food strategy development.
CCS’ initial proposed commercial solution value will have a headroom to accommodate £100 million worth of spend over the 4 year agreement period. This equates to less than 5% of the £2.1 billion public sector food spend.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish an assessment of the potential impact of the creation of single buyer agreement for public sector food on the competitive landscape of the wholesale market, including for SMEs.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
SMEs in the food supply chain were consulted as part of supplier engagement activities. Feedback from these activities shaped the procurement strategy for the proposed framework agreement.
SME producers will have increased opportunities to work with the public sector. Customers will be able to request nominated local products (subject to the local supplier/producer meeting the minimum technical standards). These products would be consolidated into a single delivery with their food order.
Many other Public Buying Organisations (PBOs) offer food and or drink commercial solutions, to the public sector which is not managed by CCS as a central government organisation. CCS consulted with a number of PBO’s as part of their food strategy development.
CCS’ initial proposed commercial solution value will have a headroom to accommodate £100 million worth of spend over the 4 year agreement period. This equates to less than 5% of the £2.1 billion public sector food spend.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the creation of a single buyer agreement for public sector food.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Crown Commercial Service (CCS), representing the Cabinet Office, Defra and its Ministers have worked closely together throughout the development of the proposed agreement.
Defra approached CCS in 2019 to consider the concept of developing a commercial strategy and procurement solution for food produce, specifically a holistic approach to the ordering, fulfilment, consolidation and delivery of food produce to customers.
CCS have been working alongside Defra to design a commercial solution, and Defra will be responsible for establishing the updated Government Buying Standards for Food. CCS and Defra continue to work closely together on this issue.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Buying Better Foods framework on the participation of SMEs in that sector.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
SMEs in the food supply chain were consulted as part of supplier engagement activities. Feedback from these activities shaped the procurement strategy for the proposed framework agreement.
SME producers will have increased opportunities to work with the public sector. Customers will be able to request nominated local products (subject to the local supplier/producer meeting the minimum technical standards). These products would be consolidated into a single delivery with their food order.
Many other Public Buying Organisations (PBOs) offer food and or drink commercial solutions, to the public sector which is not managed by CCS as a central government organisation. CCS consulted with a number of PBO’s as part of their food strategy development.
CCS’ initial proposed commercial solution value will have a headroom to accommodate £100 million worth of spend over the 4 year agreement period. This equates to less than 5% of the £2.1 billion public sector food spend.