Asked by: Andrew Bingham (Conservative - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons public bodies are permitted to import meat and meat products which due to poor welfare standards would be illegal to produce in the UK.
Answered by George Eustice
Government Buying Standards for food and catering services are mandatory for central government and encouraged in the wider public sector. The standards require that all food served must have been produced in compliance with UK legal standards for animal welfare.
To protect the supply of food to central government and other public bodies, including prisons and the military, the only exception is for the procurement of pig and poultry meat. This means that in the event that UK market conditions impose a significant increase in costs that cannot be compensated for by savings elsewhere, pig and poultry meat must as a minimum meet EU standards and the reasons for not applying UK welfare standards must be recorded and signed off by a senior official in the organisation concerned.
Asked by: Andrew Bingham (Conservative - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on implementation of the recommendations of the Bonfield report on public procurement of food; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government is committed to providing food produced to British standards or their equivalent in all its canteens, restaurants and cafeterias by the end of this Parliament. Defra is working closely with other Departments and businesses to implement Dr Peter Bonfield’s Plan for Public Procurement of Food, including a balanced scorecard. The Ministry of Justice recently launched a tender for supplying food to prisons, worth £500m, which requires bids to use the balanced scorecard. Their current supplier has agreed that the 30 million portions of UHT milk served in prisons each year will be sourced from UK producers. All new Central Government food and catering contracts will use the balanced scorecard approach.
Asked by: Andrew Bingham (Conservative - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the Lead Ammunition Group's final report; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Government is considering the Lead Ammunition Group’s report on the effects of lead ammunition to human health and wildlife and will respond as soon as possible.
I am shortly due to meet the chairman of the Group to discuss their report on the 22nd March.
The Lead Ammunition Group’s report is independent of Government. It will be for the Group to decide when to publish their report.
Asked by: Andrew Bingham (Conservative - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the Uplands Stakeholder Forum hen harrier sub-group draft joint action plan.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra officials are currently working with Sub-Group members to finalise the Joint Action Plan with a view to publishing it as soon as possible.