Tag: Nick Smith

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, 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.

Mike Penning

The Ministry of Justice does not set a budget for food served in its offices. Catering services are provided by private companies under contract to the Ministry of Justice and provided to staff without subsidy. Spending on food is determined by the contractor based on sales receipts from Ministry of Justice staff.

The Ministry of Justice has worked with its current suppliers to align existing contracts with the requirements of the balanced scorecard.

Details of the proportion of food produced for the Ministry of Justice that was sourced from British producers is not recorded centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

I refer the honourable member to the answer given to PQ 35065 on 29 April 2016 which provides relevant details about food procured for prisons.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 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 David Lidington

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not set a budget for food served in its UK food outlets. Catering services in the UK are provided to staff by an external contractor. Spending on food is determined by the contractor based on sales receipts from FCO staff.

The FCO has worked with its supplier to align the existing contract with the requirements of the Government’s food procurement balanced scorecard.
By value, approximately 84% of dairy produce, 100% of chicken, 77% of beef, 88% of pork and 91% of other meats is sourced from British producers.

The amount of other food sourced from British producers for the FCO was 35% in the last period for which figures are available (January to March 2016); this figure relates to the catering contractor’s main supplier only and includes non-indigenous products (eg tea and coffee) and does not include specialist items (eg scampi).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department is making on helping implement the European School Milk Scheme.

George Eustice

If the European Parliament formally endorses the proposal for a revised School Milk Scheme in Plenary on 8 March 2016, it is likely to enter into force in spring 2016 and apply in schools from August 2017. We will use this period to consider the new requirements and consult with interested parties. Decisions about the scheme can be made at regional or national level.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by when will 2015 payments to farmers from the Rural Payments Agency be completed; and when can farmers receiving a 50 per cent bridging payment expect to be paid in full.

George Eustice

As of 2 May, some 79,013 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) claims have now been completed. This represents 78,102 payments and 911 that resulted in no payments being due. Bridging payments were made by the end of April to those farmers not in receipt of their BPS 2015 claim payment in recognition of the cash flow pressures they are facing.

The Rural Payments Agency will continue to make full payments throughout the remainder of the payment window and anticipates completing this work by the end of June 2016.

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

To ask the Leader of the House, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Office; and what proportion of food produced for his Office was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 31 May 2016, to Question UIN 37901.

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 of and (b) prosecutions have taken place for recycling animal by-products back into the food chain 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 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has for the UK to participate in the revised European School Milk Scheme due to be implemented from August 2017.

George Eustice

If the European Parliament formally endorses the proposal for a revised School Milk Scheme in Plenary on 8 March 2016, it is likely to enter into force in spring 2016 and apply in schools from August 2017. We will use this period to consider the new requirements and consult with interested parties. Decisions about the scheme can be made at regional or national level.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of dairy products procured for (a) his Department and (b) 10 Downing Street was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

Matthew Hancock

The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

The Cabinet Office adheres to the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services which are mandatory for central Government and its executive agencies, ALBs, NDPBs etc. This is supported in the DEFRA Business Plan to drive sustainable food procurement by the Government and the public sector.

The Government Buying Standards on Food and Catering can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418072/gbs-food-catering-march2015.pdf

Dairy products in Cabinet Office buildings are supplied by the department’s facilities management providers and they have confirmed that at least 85% were sourced from British producers in 2015/16.

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

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

Mrs Theresa Villiers

There is no specific budget allocated for food produced within the Departmen; figures which detail the origin of food produced are not held by my department.

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 of and (b) prosecutions have taken place for packing and selling beef and poultry with an unknown origin 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.