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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to encourage public bodies to prioritise the purchase of produce from (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

This Government has set a clear ambition for half of all food purchased across the public sector to be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards within legal constraints. The Government is undertaking work to ensure we can deliver on this ambition, including to improve our understanding of what food the public sector currently buys and where it comes from. The Government has already published a new national procurement policy statement which sets expectations for Government contracts to favour products certified to higher environmental standards. The Government believes that high-quality British producers, including those based in South Holland and the Deepings constituency and Lincolnshire, will be well-placed to meet these standards.