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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage food suppliers to use locally sourced food products.

Our food strategy will bring together the outcomes we want from the food system to help Government and the food industry work towards shared goals and priorities. The Government will be considering the role of place-based initiatives as the food strategy is developed. Together, we can deliver a system we can be even more proud of, that protects British traditions and drives generational change in our relationship with food. For the first time in our history, the Government will also monitor where public sector food comes from so we can better understand our opportunities. We’re reforming procurement rules to make it easier for British producers to bid for a share of the £5 billion spent annually on public sector catering, given the new national procurement policy statement favours high-quality products that we believe British producers are well-placed to supply.