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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to ensure that there is a secure supply of food for residents of (a) England and (b) Sheffield Hallam in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

We firmly believe it is in the interests of both the EU and the UK to strike a deal. That remains the goal on both sides and we are confident that this will be achieved. But it is the job of a responsible Government to prepare for all scenarios, including the unlikely event that we reach March 2019 without agreeing a deal. We have already carried out very significant ‘no deal’ preparations and we are now stepping up the pace, including publishing a series of technical notices so that businesses and citizens have time to prepare.

The government has well established ways of working with the food industry to mitigate possible disruption and we will be using these to support preparations for leaving the EU.

The UK has a high degree of food security, built on access to a range of sources including strong domestic production and imports from third countries. Consumers will continue to have access to a range of different products when we leave the EU.