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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on British farming of the Plan for Public Procurement, published in July 2014.

Total spend on public sector food and catering services is around £2.4 billion. The Plan for Public Procurement launched a new approach to the way the Government and its catering providers buy food. It provides a transparent set of criteria that allow contracting parties to reach agreement about the quality and value of products and services. British farmers are well placed to meet these standards and to compete for a further £400 million of business that the Plan opens up.