Evidence Session
Food Security
Session to be held from 2.30pm on Tuesday 24 January 2023, in Committee Room 6
The Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries, Rt Hon Mark Spencer MP, will answer questions from the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee in the fifth and final session of its inquiry into food security on January 24.
The inquiry by the all-party scrutiny committee is looking into access to food, including questions of price, the Government Food Strategy and the forthcoming Land Use Framework.
This evidence session will be an opportunity to put questions to the Minister that have arisen as a result of earlier sessions with witnesses including experts, academics and practitioners in the field.
Dr Neil Hudson MP for Penrith and The Border and Member of the EFRA Committee said:
“Our EFRA Committee Inquiry on Food Security which I instigated is coming to its conclusion and by taking evidence from the Farming Minister, we can probe the issues where we can make key recommendations to Government. The pandemic and the war in Ukraine has brought the issue of food security into sharp relief and it is so important that our fantastic Cumbrian and UK farmers are supported in their endeavours to produce local, high quality, sustainable food for our population. Our Inquiry is shining the spotlight on the areas where we need to shore up our national resilience in this regard.”
With annual food inflation running at 16.9 % - the highest rate since 1977 - and some farm inputs increasing in price by even more, food prices and household food security are likely to be a focus of the Committee’s questions.
The Committee is likely to also ask the Minister about the spread of responsibilities for food policy across government, and whether the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) can pull the necessary levers across Whitehall to shape policy.
Witnesses:
· Rt Hon Mark Spencer MP, Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries, Defra
· David Kennedy CB, Director General for Food, Biosecurity and Trade, Defra
