§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have any plans to decrease the amount of foreign meat purchases for the consumption of Service personnel from 52 per cent in 2000–2001; and [HL1538]
What criteria are used to establish that value for money is achieved by purchasing meat from abroad for Service personnel, rather than from British farmers. [HL1539]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe task of buying food for the Armed Forces is carried out by the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) food supply contractor, 3663. Both the Ministry of Defence and 3663 have been working extensively with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Meat and Livestock Commission, and farmers' representatives to explore ways to increase the proportion of British meat that MoD can buy competitively. This has been a successful initiative and we are hopeful that more British meat will be procured as a result. Value for money is achieved for all meat purchases by scrutinising the prime cost of meat that 3663 supply via monthly price checks and independent benchmarking as well as being fully open to audit by Special Procurement Services, a support group of the Defence Procurement Agency.