New centralised system for procuring school food

The Crown Commercial Service has launched a new system that will help schools, hospitals and other organisations buy higher quality food and drink at better value for the taxpayer.

A single online portal will make it easier for schools by offering a simplified route to market - opening up access to a range of food and drink suppliers for the public sector.

This has the added benefit of creating more choice for customers, while improving standards and providing better access to locally-sourced produce. Public sector procurement teams will also have the option to add their preferred SME suppliers to the agreement.

All suppliers available through the portal will have to adhere to the updated Government Buying Standards for Food, which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) are set to update in due course.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, Minister Alex Burghart, said: "Delivering better value for the taxpayer and driving up food and drink standards are key priorities for government.

"This new system will deliver better quality food to our schoolchildren and care home residents, while creating a level playing field to help small businesses win more contracts from the public sector."

The government’s ambition is to further embed Government Buying Standards (GBS) to food and catering served through all public sector organisations. The framework will increase compliance with the GBS further.

This delivers a centralised option for purchasing food and drink and will be made available for the public sector across the UK. The agreement will enable public sector organisations to source healthy and high-quality produce in a consistent way - all their food and drink needs will be available in one place, providing a holistic approach to the ordering, fulfilment, consolidation and delivery of food produce.

By harnessing the collective buying power of customers across the public sector, the agreement is expected to significantly reduce costs and therefore help combat food inflation.

Crown Commercial Service (CCS), the UK’s largest public procurement organisation and part of the Cabinet Office, has worked with DEFRA to develop the new agreement. As part of that process, CCS has engaged extensively with SMEs to ensure the UK’s business community has directly fed into the plans.