Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label previous answer version answering member constituency answering member printed answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1644733

	registered interest
	date	14/06/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Food Supply
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve food security in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
	tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
	uin	189503
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2023 answer text <p>The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.</p><p> </p><p>Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 61% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years.</p><p> </p><p>UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.</p><p> </p><p>Recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was published in December 2021. The next Food Security Report will be published by the end of 2024.</p><p> </p><p>The Farm to Fork Summit also took place on 16 May 2023. Discussions focused on bringing great British food to the world; building resilience and transparency; strengthening sustainability and productivity across the supply chain; and growing an innovative, skilled food and farming sector. Engagement with the entire supply chain will continue as we deliver the commitments from the summit.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 19/06/2023 15:16:38 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1627055

	registered interest
	date	11/05/2023
	answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
	answering dept id	208
	answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
	hansard heading	Food Supply
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will publish information on the campaign to improve global food security and nutrition as part of the Integrated Review Refresh.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, West Derby
	tabling member printed	Ian Byrne
	uin	184767
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2023 answer text <p>Minister Mitchell set out further details of the global food security and nutrition campaign in his recent speech on international development at Chatham House. This included announcing an event towards the end of the year to bring together British and international expertise in tackling hunger and starvation with the support of the academic, medical, research, philanthropic, and NGO and charity community. We will publish further information on actions that have been taken to deliver the campaign throughout the year, for example funding announcements and details of Ministerial visits and engagements (such as this publication on .gov.uk on the UK-hosted Agriculture Breakthrough: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/agriculture-breakthrough-ministerial-meeting-minister-trevelyans-speech-in-washington-dc). The Department engages regularly with a range of stakeholders to consult and inform them on the progress of the campaign.</p> answering member constituency Berwick-upon-Tweed answering member printed Anne-Marie Trevelyan question first answered 17/05/2023 07:31:13 answering member 4531 label Biography information for Anne-Marie Trevelyan
	tabling member	4831 label Biography information for Ian Byrne

1623983

	registered interest
	date	26/04/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Food Supply
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has held recent discussions with trade union representatives on food security.
	tabling member constituency	Gateshead
	tabling member printed	Ian Mearns
	uin	182835
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2023 answer text <p>We have recently not held discussions with trade union representatives on food security but do engage regularly with trade bodies such as the National Farmers Union and Food and Drink Federation on food security and other issues.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to work closely with external partners across the food supply industry to understand, assess and monitor the food and drink supply. Defra works closely with the major food retailers to understand consumer behaviour and if/how this is impacted by pressures on the supply chain.</p><p> </p><p>The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. Defra has a collaborative relationship with industry which allows us to effectively respond to disruption, should it occur.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 02/05/2023 16:15:55 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4000 label Biography information for Ian Mearns

1612885

	registered interest
	date	20/04/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Food Supply
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of food security.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
	tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
	uin	181993
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2023 answer text <p>The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.</p><p> </p><p>Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 61% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years.</p><p> </p><p>UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.</p><p> </p><p>Recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was published in December 2021. It recognises the contribution made by British farmers to our resilience and considers the UK's food supply sources overall, noting that domestic production and diversity of supply are both important to our food security. The next Food Security Report will be published in 2024.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 26/04/2023 12:44:14 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1610523

	registered interest
	date	14/04/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Food Supply
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is her Department’s policy to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding between food security agencies in her Department and respective UK devolved agencies and the European Food Security Crisis Preparedness and Response Mechanism (EFSCM) Expert Group.
	tabling member constituency	Gordon
	tabling member printed	Richard Thomson
	uin	180656
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2023 answer text <p>It is not the Department’s policy to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding between food security agencies UK devolved agencies (DAs) and the European Food Security Crisis Preparedness and Response Mechanism (EFSCM) Expert Group.</p><p> </p><p>However, recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) was published in December 2021. This report will serve as an evidence base for future policy work.</p><p> </p><p>In terms of engagement on food security we engage widely and frequently with both public and private sectors through various fora.</p><p> </p><p>We engage with DAs through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group and the EFRA Resilience priority meetings. Routine engagement with DAs also takes place through the Food Resilience Industry Forum (FRIF).</p><p> </p><p>Defra continues to engage with international partners in the G20 Agricultural Market Information System and the World Trade Organization (WTO) to facilitate smooth functioning of the global food trade. G7 Agricultural Ministers are committed to cooperating closely and taking concrete actions to safeguard global food security.</p><p> </p><p>Defra closely monitors markets and supplies through the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group and other industry engagement forums to explore the factors that have contributed to ongoing supply chain pressures. As a result of recent fruit and vegetable supply issues, Defra is considering how government and industry can work together to mitigate these in the short and longer term.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 19/04/2023 11:21:38 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4796 label Biography information for Richard Thomson

1607544

	registered interest
	date	24/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Food Supply
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of levels of food security in England; and, in particular, of self-sufficiency in fruit and vegetables.
	tabling member printed	Baroness McIntosh of Pickering
	uin	HL6825
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/03/2023 answer text <p>The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. Domestic food production, coupled with international trade, gives us national resilience. When it comes to food we can produce here, we are 74% self-sufficient. Our aim is to broadly maintain the current level of food that we produce domestically and boost production in sectors where there are the biggest opportunities. Defra has a collaborative relationship with industry which allows us to effectively respond to disruption, should it occur.</p><p> </p><p>Some supermarkets applied item limits to a small number of fruit and vegetables due to poor weather affecting the harvest in Spain and North Africa, where a high proportion of produce consumed in UK at this time of year is grown. However, with the exception of one retailer, these limits have now been removed, reflecting that fact that supply is returning to normal levels.</p><p> </p><p>Recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was published in December 2021. This report will serve as an evidence base for future policy work. Defra publishes annual statistics on horticulture, including some self-sufficiency statistics here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/latest-horticulture-statistics" target="_blank">Latest horticulture statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).</a></p> answering member printed Lord Benyon grouped question UIN HL6824 question first answered 31/03/2023 12:49:43 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
	tabling member	384 label Biography information for Baroness McIntosh of Pickering

1604407

	registered interest
	date	15/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Food Supply
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of household food insecurity on households across the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Lanark and Hamilton East
	tabling member printed	Angela Crawley
	uin	166266
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2023 answer text <p>The United Kingdom Food Security Report 2021 includes analysis of food security at household level. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has recently published new data from the Family Resources Survey on household food security, giving a better understanding of who is most at risk. DWP has also included new questions in the family resources survey for 2021/22 which will be published in March 2023 and will further expand evidence in this area.</p><p><br> DWP is responsible for wider poverty policy, of which household food insecurity is one element.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 20/03/2023 15:10:37 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4469 label Biography information for Angela Crawley

1603630

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Food Supply
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) affordability and (b) availability of food in the UK; and what assessment she has made of trends in the level of those matters compared to prior to the covid-19 pandemic.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	163722
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2023 answer text <p>The December 2021 UK Food Security Report examined past, current, and predicted trends relevant to food security, with chapters on UK Food Supply and Food Security at Household Level. This report serves as an evidence base for future policy work, and the Government is committing to producing such an assessment at least once every three years.</p><p> </p><p>We know that rising food prices are a big contributor to the high levels of inflation that people are currently experiencing. However, we have seen a slight fall in the official food price inflation figures for January and we will watch to see if this is the start of a sustained fall in food price inflation.</p><p> </p><p>Given the impact of high food prices, tackling inflation is this government’s number one priority, with a plan to more than halve inflation this year, and we’re monitoring all key agricultural commodities so that we can work with the food industry to address the challenges they face.</p><p> </p><p>Low-income households are the most affected by high food and energy prices. This is why we have provided a package of support to help people with the rising cost of food. This includes £37 billion the government has committed to support households with the cost of living. £1 billion of this has gone towards help with the cost of household essentials.</p><p> </p><p>The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains. We speak regularly with food industry figures, who remain confident in the food supply chain.</p><p>We continue to keep the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 20/03/2023 14:51:22 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1586590

	registered interest
	date	17/02/2023
	answering body	Department for Business and Trade
	answering dept id	214
	answering dept short name	Business and Trade
	answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
	hansard heading	Food Supply
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when Ministers in her Department held discussions with Ministers in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on food security in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	147000
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2023 answer text <p>Since the creation of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) there have been no such discussions with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on international food prices nor food security.</p><p> </p><p>Information on meetings that pre-date DBT is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake grouped question UIN 146998 146999 147001 question first answered 20/03/2023 10:50:34 answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake previous answer version 56931 answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1586588

	registered interest
	date	17/02/2023
	answering body	Department for Business and Trade
	answering dept id	214
	answering dept short name	Business and Trade
	answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
	hansard heading	Food Supply
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when (a) she and (b) her predecessors held discussions with Ministers in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on food security in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	146998
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2023 answer text <p>Since the creation of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) there have been no such discussions with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on international food prices nor food security.</p><p> </p><p>Information on meetings that pre-date DBT is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake grouped question UIN 146999 147000 147001 question first answered 20/03/2023 10:50:34 answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake previous answer version 56933 answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner