Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the most significant key risks to the UK’s food security; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

Food supply is one of the UK’s critical national infrastructures and Defra produces an annual sector resilience plan as lead Government Department.

The UK food sector has a highly effective and resilient food supply chain, owing to the size, geographic diversity and competitive nature of the industry. The resilience of the sector has been demonstrated by the response to potentially disruptive challenges in recent years, although it is dependent on other critical services such as fuel, energy, transport and communications. The Government and industry work together closely to identify and mitigate risks and ensure the continued resilience of food supply.

The Government is developing a 25 year food and farming plan to further grow our food and farming industry. We want to export more and produce more for the domestic market. We aim to improve productivity and profitability through greater efficiency, the deployment of new technology and by building on the strong international reputation of British food at home and abroad.