Tag: Nick Smith

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.

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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.

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 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that fans buying tickets for sporting and cultural events are not disadvantaged by organised gangs of online touts in the secondary ticket market.

Tracey Crouch

The Government announced last week that Professor Michael Waterson has been appointed to chair the independent review of consumer protection measures in the secondary ticket market. The review will look into existing protections for consumers and how tickets come to be available on the secondary market.