SMEs have long faced difficulties in accessing public procurement opportunities. There has been some progress since Defra’s 2014 Plan, but it has been slow. The pilot run by Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES) using the Dynamic Purchasing System showed promising results, including, crucially, that local sourcing can be more cost-effective. We are satisfied that plans had been made to scale up this pilot in the south west of England, with a view to national rollout in the longer term.

SMEs have long faced difficulties in accessing public procurement opportunities. There has been some progress since Defra’s 2014 Plan, but it has been slow. The pilot run by Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES) using the Dynamic Purchasing System showed promising results, including, crucially, that local sourcing can be more cost-effective. We are satisfied that plans had been made to scale up this pilot in the south west of England, with a view to national rollout in the longer term. Type: conclusion | Number: 7 | Paragraph: 54 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: We welcome the Committee’s endorsement of the Future Food Framework (FFF) and look forward to progressing the pilot. The FFF supports the Government’s commitments on engaging with SMEs and enabling the public sector to buy more local food, and it is therefore an approach that we want to see succeed.