Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

National Resilience Strategy: Food Security

Thursday 9 June 2022 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial questions addressed food security preparedness in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
  • The government is collaborating with the food industry and devolved Administrations to ensure a common approach to food security.
  • Discussions include working with international partners to address the urgent need to extract grain from Ukraine.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Kerry McCarthy Lab Bristol East
Ukraine Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The question arises due to concerns over global food supplies being disrupted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has led to urgent needs for resilience strategies.

Question

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure food security preparedness as part of his Department's national resilience strategy. This situation has become increasingly urgent because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has seriously disrupted global food supplies. Will the Minister comment on rumours that the Government are reportedly abandoning many of the recommendations in the national food strategy, on which their response is long overdue, including measures that would help us to improve our food security?

Answer from Steve Barclay

We are working in partnership with the food industry—indeed, only yesterday I chaired a roundtable with industry representatives—and also working in partnership across the United Kingdom. We had representatives from the devolved Administrations there yesterday for what is a common purpose. We all want to see resilience, given the pressure on food prices, and we are working in partnership with industry representatives to take that strategy forward.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific rumours about abandoning parts of the national food strategy were not directly addressed.

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Q2 Kerry McCarthy Lab Bristol East
Ukraine Brexit Business & Trade
Context

The question arises due to the pressing issue of grain supply from Ukraine being affected by the ongoing war, which requires urgent international cooperation.

Question

Will my right hon. Friend outline what steps his Department is taking to mitigate the effects of the war in Ukraine on world supplies of food?

Answer from Steve Barclay

One specific area is working with international partners as to how we get the grain out of Ukraine. There is a pressing timescale on that—a four-week window—so the matter is urgent. Indeed, when I met the US ambassador who has newly arrived in her post, that was one of the issues we discussed, as we do with other international partners.

Answered
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Q3 Andrew Bridgen Con
Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The concern is about securing knowledgeable farmers in the UK and fostering a supportive route to farming to secure domestic food supplies.

Question

Bearing in mind the need to secure knowledgeable farmers—I am very fortunate in my constituency to have many—what discussions has the Minister had with counterparts in the area of skills and learning on fostering a supportive route to farming and diversification to secure our food supplies at home?

Answer from Steve Barclay

The hon. Gentleman raises an extremely important point. I suggest that he looks first at the approach we took in the autumn, when our supply chains were under pressure. We showed considerable flexibility and worked with industry leaders such as Sir Dave Lewis on how to adapt our approach. Obviously, there are schemes such as the seasonal agricultural workers scheme, which has a review mechanism that potentially allows an extra 10,000 workers if required. There is also the opportunity to invest in areas such as agri-tech, and policy from the Chancellor such as the super deduction facilitates that investment.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific discussions with counterparts regarding skills and learning were not detailed.

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