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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that her Department's purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.

The Department's purchasing policies support the Government’s commitment to do all it can to ensure UK suppliers can compete effectively for public sector contracts, in line with our current international obligations and guidance issued by the Crown Commercial Service. In addition, in 2014 the government introduced the plan for public procurement of food and catering services and Defra has adopted the use of the ‘Balanced Scorecard’ approach to sourcing food which recognises factors like celebration of provenance, local food traditions and consumers’ connection to producers.