§ Mr. WeirTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what fairly traded products, other than tea and coffee, have been purchased by his Department in each of the last five years; and what was their value. [17565]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe Department does not directly purchase these products, but within the last two months the staff restaurant contractor has introduced Fair Trade chocolate and cereal bars for sale to staff in the main staff restaurant. No figures are available on the value of these purchases.
§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he has taken to encourage the use of Fair Trade products by local authorities. [17796]
§ Dr. WhiteheadLocal authorities are independent and autonomous and responsible within the law for making their own decisions on procurement matters. In doing so they will no doubt consider the case for purchasing Fair Trade products on their merits with regard to the need to achieve value for money in making their decisions.