Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to encourage schools to buy food from local food cooperatives through the updated school food standards.

The National Procurement Policy Statement, published in February, underscores the government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts. The department believes our high-quality British producers are well-placed to meet this. It is important that schools have flexibility in how they procure.