Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Paragraph: 17
It is essential that the Government sets buying standards for public procurement of food in...
Recommendation
It is essential that the Government sets buying standards for public procurement of food in order to achieve value for money and ensure that high quality food, produced to high standards, is served by public bodies. However, standards are only effective if they are followed, and currently we do not have a clear picture of how frequently and effectively the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering (GBSF) are being followed by public bodies. There is no coherent system for monitoring compliance where public bodies are mandated to follow the GBSF. This means that food supply chains cannot normalise around one set of baseline standards. A responsibility for monitoring compliance should be emphasised to or placed on existing inspection bodies, such as Ofsted (for schools) and the Care Quality Commission (for NHS Trusts), rather than creating new structures for inspection. These data should be reported to Government. Where such inspection bodies do not exist, Defra must gather data on compliance with the GBSF and the Balanced Scorecard through annual surveys, as it already does for government departments. It should publish the results of these surveys and name Departments that are not meeting the standards or fail to respond adequately to surveys.
Paragraph Reference:
17
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Government recognises the need for a robust process to monitor adoption of the GBSF and will consider potential inspection bodies and remits as part of the GBSF consultation this summer. Currently, Ofsted and CQC inspectors do not have the expertise to assess and report on the GBSF. In addition, adding a further role in checking compliance to the GBSF would 2 Third Special Report of Session 2021–22 detract from their ability to focus on their core remits. A change to existing bodies’ remits would in any case require additional resource, and as such we will also seek views on alternative forms of monitoring and enforcement. Alternatives could include the use of new reporting requirements, clear Key Performance Indicators, and the expansion of existing tools. We publish the Greening Government Commitments report every year and will consider if we can expand the scope of reporting, to encourage compliance and best-practice sharing. The consultation responses will inform both the updated GBSF and the Food Strategy White Paper. There is an opportunity in the White Paper to outline regulatory responsibilities in this area and the format and frequency of regular reporting on public procurement of food. In parallel to the consultation, we will further engage with the sector to raise awareness of the GBSF, with the objective of encouraging compliance and adoption of best practice. We will extend this engagement through a series of workshops during the summer focussing on implementing and updating the GBSF.