The Government has associated leaving the EU with the opportunity to encourage the public sector to “buy British” and reduce environmental costs. It is, however, clear that even under EU rules, the UK already had opportunities to support British suppliers through proxy measures, such as specifying “local” and “seasonal” in procurement. This had the potential to provide greater environmental benefits, such as reduction of food miles. We are disappointed that those opportunities were not maximi...

The Government has associated leaving the EU with the opportunity to encourage the public sector to “buy British” and reduce environmental costs. It is, however, clear that even under EU rules, the UK already had opportunities to support British suppliers through proxy measures, such as specifying “local” and “seasonal” in procurement. This had the potential to provide greater environmental benefits, such as reduction of food miles. We are disappointed that those opportunities were not maximised before EU Exit and we expect the Government to make more effort in future. Type: conclusion | Number: 5 | Paragraph: 40 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: . We have a manifesto commitment to encourage the public sector to ‘Buy British’ – to support our farmers and reduce environmental costs. Our vision is that local sourcing will be championed throughout the updated GBSF. This will include promoting procurement practices that support local suppliers,