Tag: Nick Smith

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prosecutions have been made as a result of information supplied by the Food Crime Unit since its creation.

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 Education, what proportion of dairy products procured for her Department was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb

As of March 2016, the Department for Education sources approximately 90% of its dairy products from British producers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, 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.

Justin Tomlinson

Since 1998 the Department for Work and Pensions has outsourced the provision and maintenance for the majority of its estate to Telereal Trillium under a 20 year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract that expires on 31 March 2018.

Under the terms of the contract, Telereal Trillium provides fully-serviced accommodation, including the provision of catering services. Telereal Trillium provide catering through their Service Partners, Compass Group. The Department pays an all-inclusive facility unit price for sites and we are unable to separate the costs for catering.

The amount of food sourced from British producers for DWP was 42% (Jan – Mar 2016). This figure does not include the considerable spend on non-indigenous products purchased for use in the DWP contract with large volumes of coffee as well as rice, pasta, tea, banana’s, citrus, exotic fruits etc. Additionally as this period falls in winter some UK seasonal products are not available so have been procured from the EU.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many reports of food fraud have been made to the Food Crime Unit through the official website since its creation.

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 Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of dairy products procured for her Department was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

Andrea Leadsom

I refer the rt. hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs today to Question 35061:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-04-21/35061/.

“

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, 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.

Joseph Johnson

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) does not set a budget for food served in its offices. Catering services are provided by private companies under contract to BIS which lease facilities in its London offices at 1 Victoria Street, 151 Buckingham Palace Road and Fleetbank House and provide food to staff without subsidy. Spending on food is determined by the contractor based on sales receipts.

BIS has worked with its current suppliers to align the existing contract with the requirements of the “balanced scorecard” for public food procurement.

The amount of food sourced from British producers for the Department’s three London offices is approximately 75% per month on average based on data for the period January – March 2016.

Items that are not available as British produce are fruits (for example – melons, pineapples, grapes, lemons, oranges), continental meats and Fairtrade coffee which is a large part of the sales volume.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-04-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) incidents have been reported to trading standards teams of and (b) prosecutions have taken place for food with falsely-labelled ingredients in the most recent period for which figures are available.

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 is reported to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the number of food 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.

Data is 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, 75 United Kingdom food establishments were subject to prosecution.

The FSA has recently established a central register of successful food law prosecutions. 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 2016-05-04.

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

Mr David Lidington

For the financial year 2015/6, 84% of dairy products (by value) procured as part of the UK contracted catering service in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office were sourced from British producers.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much is spent from the public purse on food procured for (a) his Department and (b) the Prime Minister’s Office; and what proportion of food procured for each was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

Matthew Hancock

Information on expenditure on food is not held separately to overall expenditure on catering, hospitality and subsistence, which is normally sold with no subsidy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-04-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of dairy products procured for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Dunne

The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.