Minister Mark Spencer faces MPs on food security inquiry - January 24th 2.30pm - watch live

20 Jan 2023

Food Security Session to be held from 2.30pm on Tuesday 24 January 2023, in Committee Room 6

Watch on parliamentlive.tv

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.

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 Government Food Strategy is also set to be discussed, including its divergence from the findings of the government-commissioned review conducted by Henry Dimbleby which produced a report dubbed the “National Food Strategy”.

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