from small and medium enterprises.
A spokesman said: “We are looking for public sector organisations, catering teams, and suppliers across all areas of the public sector to share their insights on food procurement, in particular: education, healthcare, defence, prisons, and local government.
“Your insights will help Defra understand the impacts of existing policy and shape any future interventions.”
Jayne Jones, chair of the Public Sector Catering Alliance encouraged caterers to get involved, saying: “This is work is directly emerging from the Defra food strategy School Lunch Working Group on public procurement, which I have been participating in, along with Phil Shelley and LACA and others.
“I think the more public caterers we can get to engage in this, the better.”
Defra has commissioned Ecorys and the Countryside and Community Research Institute to:
• Evaluate how the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF) are applied, and what barriers limit wider adoption.
• Build a baseline picture of public sector food; how it is produced, where it comes from, and how much is sourced from small and medium enterprises.
The spokesman added: “You can contribute by sharing procurement data that helps us understand current buying practices, including on provenance, certification or SME participation.
“And you can take part in a short, case study interview about your organisation’s approach.
“We would particularly like to hear from you if you can tell us
about the practicalities of meeting the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF), the impacts your organisation is seeing, or the implications for value for money.”
The researchers are looking for food procurement figures for the financial year 2024-2025, though data for the two preceding financial years would also be welcome, if available.
However, they say no raw data will be passed on, instead the evaluators will report aggregate data by public sector department, for example the NHS, without naming individual Trusts).
An evaluation report will be published in 2027. This information will help Defra to understand progress towards meeting Public Sector Food Procurement policy priorities.
Any public catering organisations willing to participate can contact the evaluation project manager by emailing: PSFPEvaluation@ecorys.com