The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built by supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. This provides us with the resilience we need in the face of risks such as adverse weather, animal or crop disease, or transport and border disruption.

Our production to supply ratio remains high in comparison with historical levels. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years. The UK’s year-round production includes cereals, meats, milk and some fresh produce. We have very high production to supply ratios in poultry, turnips, carrots, swedes, eggs and beef.

The UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) recognises the contribution made by British farmers to our resilience, and the importance of strong domestic production to our food security. It considers the UK's food supply sources overall, noting that domestic production and diversity of supply are both important to our food security. The UKFSR summarises existing information and understanding. It serves as an evidence base for future policy work, and does not contain policy recommendations.

The Government has a manifesto commitment that 'we want people, both at home and abroad, to be lining up to buy British'.

To increase both domestic and overseas demand, we will use the UK's growing reputation for high-quality food and drink produced to high standards of food safety, animal welfare and sustainability.

We are working with the public sector to encourage them to buy seasonal and local produce, encourage variety in diets and support local businesses. This includes promoting the high standards of British produce.

We will always champion our farmers and producers, supporting them to grow more of our great British food, and to provide a reliable and sustainable food supply to the British public.

Farming efficiently and improving the environment can go hand in hand. This does not have to be a trade-off, as many land management activities will benefit the environment as well as productivity. Our future farming policy will not only reward a range of environmental improvements, but also support investment in technology and research to improve productivity – helping farmers to produce the high-quality food we are renowned for.

The new Farming Investment Fund will provide grants to farmers, foresters and growers (including contractors to these sectors) so that they can invest in the equipment, technology and infrastructure that will help their businesses to prosper, while improving their productivity and enhancing the environment. These grants will help producers to focus on more efficient production methods that will reduce resource costs, improve yields, and give them a better return.

These initiatives together with our new Farming Innovation Programme, a farmer-led funding programme for research and development to boost innovation and improve the productivity and prosperity of England’s agricultural and horticultural sectors, will provide a catalyst for growth for all regions of the UK.

Our food security depends on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable export routes. Overall, we produce 60% of all the food we need. That figure increases to 74% as a percentage of the food which UK conditions allow us to grow or rear in the UK, for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years. UK consumers have almost constant access through international trade to food products that we cannot produce here, or can only produce for some of the year; this also supplements our excellent domestic production. Importantly, this also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.

My Lords, without being pedantic, Clause 1 is about the Secretary of State’s powers to give financial assistance. It sets out 10 items of public good for which there is public money because there is not a market. However, as I said, Clause 1(4) refers to food production. Other elements of the Bill involve innovation, agritech and R&D, all of which will increase productivity and help farmers to produce food. The first section is about rewarding farmers for things they are already doing, and which we want them to do even more, but for which there is no market as such.

The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme and Sectors Based Scheme for agricultural and food production sectors were closed at the end of 2013 when the transitional employment restrictions applied to nationals of Bulgaria and Romania were lifted. Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force.

There are a number of options as to how EU migration might work once we have left. We are about to begin these negotiations and it would be wrong to set out further positions in advance. At every step of these negotiations we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people.

The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living here, and the only circumstances in which that would not be possible is if British citizens’ rights in European member states were not protected in return.

The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme and Sectors Based Scheme for agricultural and food production sectors were closed at the end of 2013 when the transitional employment restrictions applied to nationals of Bulgaria and Romania were lifted. Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force.

There are a number of options as to how EU migration might work once we have left. We are about to begin these negotiations and it would be wrong to set out further positions in advance. At every step of these negotiations we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people.

The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living here, and the only circumstances in which that would not be possible is if British citizens’ rights in European member states were not protected in return.

Supporting our farmers and protecting the environment will form an important part of our exit from the EU. We are now focused on making sure that all our policies are delivering for the UK and to grow our world-leading food and farming industry. I am looking forward to working with industry and the public to develop new proposals that support our agricultural and horticultural industries as we leave the EU.

With regard to labour from European nationals, until we leave the EU, there are no changes to labour movements. Defra is very aware that migrant workers from other EU countries will be one of the complex issues that will have to be resolved as part of our exit negotiation and future relationship with the EU. We are currently working with colleagues across government to analyse potential impacts and explore options.

Food labelling rules are set at European Union level and provide a framework for mandatory information to be provided on food labels as well as ensuring that food information is not misleading. This Government has pressed for better information for consumers during negotiations relating to food labelling in Europe.

Food businesses are responsible for ensuring their products are safe and accurately labelled. The Government backs this up with risk-based checks carried out by local authorities. In addition, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs develops validated testing methods under its Food Authenticity programme to check for mis-description and fraud. These methods are used by public analysts and local authorities to support food law enforcement.

The majority of food law enforcement is delegated to local authorities throughout the United Kingdom who carry out checks of food businesses in their area to ensure compliance with food safety, traceability and labelling requirements. To support this, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) makes funding available to UK Enforcement Authorities for sampling and surveillance of food to help ensure risk-based, targeted checks on food products throughout the food chain.

The Government has set up the National Food Crime Unit to increase the capacity to identify, disrupt and prevent food crime. It does this in part by developing intelligence packages and passing these either to the police service or to a local authority to take forward the investigation.

Measures to co-ordinate food standards enforcement across Local Authorities are kept under continual review by the FSA to improve effectiveness of delivery, working with local authorities and trading standards professional bodies.