Addressee: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs · Source location: Page 13, 26a
Defra should: define its risk appetite for levels of food supply disruption it is willing to tolerate and embed this into its policy and emergency response decision?making ? this would support it to make risk-informed decisions and trade-offs, including on when and how to intervene during emergency situations
Response position:
No response position recorded
Delivery:
No implementation status recorded
Addressee: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs · Source location: Page 13, 26b
Defra should: develop clear performance metrics to monitor progress against the outcomes in its 2025 publication Towards a Good Food Cycle, including the specific outcome to ensure ?greater preparedness for supply chain shocks, disruption, and impacts of chronic risks? ? this could be part of its wider work to strengthen its overall framework for the outcomes it seeks to achieve
Response position:
No response position recorded
Delivery:
No implementation status recorded
Addressee: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs · Source location: Page 13, 26c
Defra should: refresh arrangements for engagement with food supply chain businesses ? it should assess the extent to which its current forums adequately cover the full supply chain, and ensure each group has clear objectives and adequate administrative support
Response position:
No response position recorded
Delivery:
No implementation status recorded
Addressee: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs · Source location: Page 13, 26d
Defra should: assess the potential costs and benefits of approaches used to build resilience in other sectors or countries and whether they are wholly or partly applicable for the UK?s food supply chain ? this could include approaches that incentivise private companies to build resilience into their operations or building resilience through direct government actions (such as stockpiling)
Response position:
No response position recorded
Delivery:
No implementation status recorded
Addressee: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs · Source location: Page 13, 26e
Defra should: review its response plans to determine whether they represent good practice in preparedness planning and would be effective in practice ? this could include:
? reviewing approaches in other areas of Defra oversight (such as animal disease contingency plans) and across government;
? greater involvement of the private sector supply chain in developing plans and exercises; and
? considering whether an independent review of its plans would help strengthen them.
Defra should regularly test these plans through exercises, including covering severe or catastrophic disruptions, and use the results to identify lessons and refine its approach
Response position:
No response position recorded
Delivery:
No implementation status recorded
Addressee: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs · Source location: Page 13, 26f
Defra should: undertake a comprehensive review of the current legal powers it could use to respond to a catastrophic event which causes a severe food supply disruption ? if this identifies clear gaps, it should determine a timetable for bringing forward proposed legislative changes
Response position:
No response position recorded
Delivery:
No implementation status recorded
Addressee: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs · Source location: Page 14, 27g
Working with the Cabinet Office and other government departments, Defra should: ensure that future initiatives to encourage greater preparedness by households and communities include appropriate detail on food preparedness and the level of disruption households should reasonably expect to prepare for ? this work should be informed by examples from other countries
Response position:
No response position recorded
Delivery:
No implementation status recorded
Addressee: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs · Source location: Page 14, 27h
Working with the Cabinet Office and other government departments, Defra should: assess the current cross?government governance approach to food supply resilience and identify and implement any improvements required, to ensure policy alignment across all CNI sectors and a coordinated response during emergencies
Response position:
No response position recorded
Delivery:
No implementation status recorded
Addressee: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs · Source location: Page 14, 27i
Working with the Cabinet Office and other government departments, Defra should: accelerate its consideration of critical food infrastructure assets and which, if any, should be included in the government?s ?CNI Knowledge Base? tool
Response position:
No response position recorded
Delivery:
No implementation status recorded
Addressee: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs · Source location: Page 14, 28j
Working with MHCLG, local authorities and LRFs, Defra should: establish clear expectations for LRFs in the event of a severe food supply disruption and communicate this to all LRFs ? this should include:
? co-designing with the local government sector the measures needed to address severe disruptions to food supplies; and
? establishing a process for ongoing engagement with LRFs to understand their preparedness and disseminate information on, for example, latest risks to food supply and updates to policy and guidance.
Response position:
No response position recorded
Delivery:
No implementation status recorded