Tag: Nick Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of dairy products procured for his Department was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

Harriett Baldwin

Catering Services in 1 Horse Guards Road are provided at zero subsidy under our 35 year PFI agreement with Exchequer Partnerships Plc. (EP). Food is procured by a sub-contractor to EP.

The latest period for which figures are available is July 2014 to September 2015. In this period, 84.81% of dairy products procured were sourced from UK producers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

David Mundell

The Scotland Office has no in-house catering facilities and the provision of food is generally limited to catering associated with official hospitality and is supplied by external contractors.

The Office does not separately record the proportion of food sourced from British Producers used by its external caterers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) incidents have been reported to trading standards teams and (b) prosecutions there have been related to food and drink products substituted with a cheaper alternative in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison

Monitoring food businesses to ensure compliance with legislation on food labelling and composition is the responsibility of county councils, unitary authorities, the London Boroughs and some but not all metropolitan borough councils. These local authorities are also responsible for taking enforcement action, including prosecutions, where non-compliance is found.

Data are reported to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the number of food and drink analyses undertaken in relation to compositional issues and labelling and presentation issues:

23,599 analyses were undertaken in 2014/15, 16,899 for compositional issues and 6,700 for labelling and presentation issues.

29,324 analyses were undertaken in 2013/14, 19,386 for compositional issues and 9,938 for labelling and presentation issues.

26,940 analyses were undertaken in 2012/13, 16,982 for compositional issues and 9,958 for labelling and presentation issues.

Data are also reported to the FSA on the total number of prosecutions concluded for food standards issues. This includes action in relation to composition, labelling and presentation but also for other issues such as chemical contamination. In 2014/15, 2013/14 and 2012/13 respectively, 75, 57 and 78 United Kingdom food establishments were subject to prosecution.

The FSA has recently established a central register of successful food law prosecutions. Analysis of data collected for the first year of operation of the register is not yet complete, but in future it will provide more definitive data on prosecutions for offences of this nature.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) establishment and (b) running costs of the Food Crime Unit have been to date; and what resources have been allocated to that Unit in each of the next five years.

Jane Ellison

The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) is initially focusing on establishing the scale and nature of food crime in the United Kingdom at a strategic level through developing intelligence sharing relationships across the law enforcement community and with the food industry. This will also enable the Unit to instigate investigative interventions by law enforcement partners and local authorities to identify and disrupt specific instances of food crime.

At the end of this year, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) will review progress on food crime, in line with Professor Elliott’s recommendations following the horsemeat incident. This review will inform decision-making about the Unit’s future form and function including the need or otherwise for the unit to establish an in-house investigative capability.

Intelligence analysts within the Unit have just completed the first ever Food Crime Annual Strategic Assessment (FCASA). The FCASA sets out the Unit’s developing understanding of food crime and will drive its work to ensure resources are focused where the threat to consumers and other interests is the greatest.

The NFCU receives reports of suspicions of food fraud from a number of sources via many different routes. The FSA website directs users to a dedicated email address and telephone number for reporting these suspicions. Information is also received through local authority and law enforcement partners. Information received is analysed and, where appropriate, entered onto the Unit’s intelligence database. Between 1 January 2015 and 18 March 2016, 793 such records were created.

Establishment costs for the NFCU were minimal as the Unit initially evolved from a small but similar capability within the FSA. Total running costs to date are in the region of £579,000. Estimated costs for the forthcoming year are £1.2 million, subject to final allocations being agreed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of dairy products procured for his Department was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mr Mark Francois

The Department for Communities and Local Government sources 75% of its dairy products from British producers as at March 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The requested information is not recorded in the format requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

My department follows the Government Buying Standard for food and catering to be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418072/gbs-food-catering-march2015.pdf.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings her Department has had with supermarkets to discuss ensuring their packaging for produce and goods is recyclable.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

The Department has regular meetings and conversations with retailer stakeholder groups and representatives from the packaging industry, including representatives of supermarkets. The Department also works through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) on wide-ranging initiatives aimed at increasing recycling. Many of these initiatives, including the Courtauld Commitment, involve supermarkets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on establishing an investigative capability for the Food Crime Unit.

Jane Ellison

The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) is initially focusing on establishing the scale and nature of food crime in the United Kingdom at a strategic level through developing intelligence sharing relationships across the law enforcement community and with the food industry. This will also enable the Unit to instigate investigative interventions by law enforcement partners and local authorities to identify and disrupt specific instances of food crime.

At the end of this year, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) will review progress on food crime, in line with Professor Elliott’s recommendations following the horsemeat incident. This review will inform decision-making about the Unit’s future form and function including the need or otherwise for the unit to establish an in-house investigative capability.

Intelligence analysts within the Unit have just completed the first ever Food Crime Annual Strategic Assessment (FCASA). The FCASA sets out the Unit’s developing understanding of food crime and will drive its work to ensure resources are focused where the threat to consumers and other interests is the greatest.

The NFCU receives reports of suspicions of food fraud from a number of sources via many different routes. The FSA website directs users to a dedicated email address and telephone number for reporting these suspicions. Information is also received through local authority and law enforcement partners. Information received is analysed and, where appropriate, entered onto the Unit’s intelligence database. Between 1 January 2015 and 18 March 2016, 793 such records were created.

Establishment costs for the NFCU were minimal as the Unit initially evolved from a small but similar capability within the FSA. Total running costs to date are in the region of £579,000. Estimated costs for the forthcoming year are £1.2 million, subject to final allocations being agreed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of dairy products procured for his Department was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Department does not undertake procurement of dairy products. Catering is available to the department but this is not managed by DCMS.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

Guto Bebb

Given the small amount of expenditure involved, the Wales Office does not have a budget specifically for food. It uses external caterers to supply food and drink for events in its London and Cardiff offices. Records are not kept on where the food is sourced from.