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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the inclusion of the food and drink wholesale sector within Protected Site List of the Electricity Supply Emergency Code.

We have been working closely with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on a range of business resilience matters, including on energy supply. Under the Electricity Supply Emergency Code (ESEC), a site or service may qualify to be placed on the Protected Sites List if it meets the criteria set out explicitly in the publicly-available guidance. Applications for sites to be included in this list are made directly to their local Distribution Network Operator. We engage regularly with the food and drink sector, including with wholesalers, to understand their resilience.