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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with relevant stakeholders on potential changes to legislation that would help increase the number of companies that are able to donate surplus food to (a) food banks and (b) soup kitchens.

No discussions have taken place with stakeholders on legislative changes to increase the number of companies able to donate food surplus.

Defra's Food and Drink Waste Hierarchy outlines how all businesses should deal with food surplus and waste, preventing food surplus where possible and redistributing any surplus should it arise. Following this hierarchy will help businesses to minimise the environmental impact of food and drink waste and maximise the value of food and drink surplus, for example by donating to food banks or soup kitchens.

Defra funds the UK Food and Drink Pact, a voluntary agreement with industry to tackle food waste, managed by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). Through the Pact, we support the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, which helps businesses to identify and measure their surplus and waste and take steps to reduce it.

This Target Measure Act (TMA) approach enables food businesses to get more surplus to redistributors. Defra also engages a working group of supply chain and redistribution sector organisations to develop best practice and overcome barriers to redistribution.