Rupert Lowe MP: written questions 2025
1378 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Food: Public SectorDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65620More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support is available for public sector caterers that would like to organise farm visits to help improve local food supply relationships.
Answer: We are currently considering the policy options available to deliver further on our ambitions for public sector catering, including the potential benefits of developing stronger ties between food producers, caterers, and end consumers.
Answered 15 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordFood: Local GovernmentDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65619More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he takes steps to encourage local authorities to support local producers through food contracts for (a) care homes and (b) civic buildings.
Answer: We recognise the potential benefits of developing stronger ties between local authorities and food producers and support efforts from all parties in strengthening relationships across the supply chains, including into (a) care homes and (b) civic building...
Answered 15 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordHospitals: FoodDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65618More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the NHS on increasing procurement from British food producers in its supply chain.
Answer: All National Health Service trusts are expected to follow NHS England’s guidance, National standards for healthcare food and drink, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-standards-for-healthcare-food-and-dr...
Answered 15 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordFood: Local GovernmentDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65617More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has considered providing fiscal incentives to local authorities that prioritise British food in their catering contracts.
Answer: The Government is open to considering all lawful means of achieving its ambition that half of all food purchased across the public sector should be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards. We have already published a new national p...
Answered 15 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordPrisons: FoodMinistry of JusticeTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65616More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of food served in prisons is sourced from British farms; and what plans she has to encourage more prisons to buy British produce.
Answer: As at May 2025, 56.1% of food products sourced via the prisoner food contract and served in prisons is of British origin, however we do not hold a figure for farms specifically.The sourcing of products is managed through commercial food contracts which ar...
Answered 15 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordCatering: Public SectorDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65615More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the (a) number of food miles and (b) level of carbon emissions generated through catering provided by the public sector in the most recent period for whi
Answer: The Government is currently considering policy options, including how best to demonstrate the beneficial impacts of the new national procurement policy statement, which sets out expectations for Government contracts to favour products certified to high en...
Answered 15 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordHospitals: FoodDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65614More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of sourcing British food for hospitals on levels of (a) hospital food quality and (b) patient recovery.
Answer: All National Health Service trusts are expected to follow NHS England’s guidance, National standards for healthcare food and drink, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-standards-for-healthcare-food-and-dr...
Answered 15 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: FoodDepartment for EducationTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65612More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools to source (a) fresh and (b) seasonal food produced in the UK.
Answer: The department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the school food standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance. We are currently engaging with stakeholders on the school food standards to help us under...
Answered 17 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordArmed Forces: FoodMinistry of DefenceTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65611More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of food served in military catering contracts was sourced from the UK, in the latest period for which data is available.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 March 2025 to Question 36360 to the hon. Member for South Holland and the Deepings (Sir John Hayes MP).
Answered 14 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordPublic Sector: FoodCabinet OfficeTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65610More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Departments are required to report on the origin of food purchased through public procurement contracts.
Answer: Departments are not currently required to report on the origin of food served in their canteens. In January the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced that the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs would be und...
Answered 15 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordHospitals: FoodDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65609More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of food served in NHS hospitals was sourced from British farms in the latest period for which data is available; and what steps he is taking to encourage NHS hospitals to buy food s
Answer: All National Health Service trusts are expected to follow NHS England’s guidance, National standards for healthcare food and drink, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-standards-for-healthcare-food-and-dr...
Answered 15 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSchool MealsDepartment for EducationTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65608More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to amend the guidance entitled School food standards practical guide, published on 13 February 2025, to encourage schools to buy British produce.
Answer: The department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the school food standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance. We are currently engaging with stakeholders on the school food standards to help us under...
Answered 17 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordFood: Public SectorDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65607More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase the proportion of British-grown food procured by the public sector.
Answer: The Government is open to considering all lawful means of achieving its ambition that half of all food purchased across the public sector should be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards. The new national procurement policy statem...
Answered 15 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: PalestiniansHome OfficeTabled 3 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64909More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Palestinian nationals have entered the UK under (a) humanitarian and (b) asylum schemes since October 2023.
Answer: Data on asylum claims, by nationality, is published in table Asy_D01 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions detailed datasets’.The latest data relates to the year ending March 2025. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ p...
Answered 10 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordWales Office: Remote WorkingWales OfficeTabled 2 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64673More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answer: No staff in my Department currently have permission to work remotely outside the UK.
Answered 8 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordScotland Office: Remote WorkingScotland OfficeTabled 2 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64672More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answer: The Scotland Office has no staff working remotely from a non-UK location.
Answered 9 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordNorthern Ireland Office: Remote WorkingNorthern Ireland OfficeTabled 2 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64671More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answer: The Northern Ireland Office does not have any employees working remotely from outside the UK. All staff are based within the UK.
Answered 10 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Justice: Remote WorkingMinistry of JusticeTabled 2 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64670More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answer: The Ministry of Justice uses the term international remote working (IRW) to describe working remotely outside the UK. IRW is defined as when an employee wants to undertake the full responsibilities of their role remotely from abroad, for a short-term and ...
Answered 9 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Remote WorkingMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 2 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64669More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answer: In line with wider Government policy, the Department policy allows spouses of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials to work abroad when their spouses have been posted overseas. The Department allows working abroad when officials are overs...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Defence: Remote WorkingMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64668More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answer: A total of 45 Ministry of Defence (MOD) Civil Servants have been permitted international remote working since the temporary concession was introduced in 2021. The vast majority were to accompany their partners/spouses who work in the Armed Forces and are ...
Answered 9 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordHome Office: Remote WorkingHome OfficeTabled 2 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64667More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answer: The Home Office has a clear policy on International Remote Working (IRW), which is only permitted in very limited circumstances, either on compassionate grounds for up to four weeks where an employee has a seriously ill relative abroad, or to enable an em...
Answered 10 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordTreasury: Remote WorkingTreasuryTabled 2 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64665More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answer: HM Treasury's international remote working policy permits certain staff to work remotely overseas in order to accompany a partner posted abroad on HMG business. There are two members of staff who each have permission to work remotely from a European count...
Answered 10 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment of Health and Social Care: Remote WorkingDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 2 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64664More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answer: The Department approves temporary international remote working for staff to work remotely overseas for short defined periods of time where there is critical business need or unforeseen personal circumstances that require immediate attention outside of the...
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Work and Pensions: Remote WorkingDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64663More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answer: DWP has no employees who are temporarily working outside the UK. The DWP policy does not permit overseas homeworking as per our Contractual Homeworking Policy.
Answered 10 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Transport: Remote WorkingDepartment for TransportTabled 2 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64662More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answer: We have provided a response based on the number of accepted requests via the Departments Working Remotely Overseas policy. This does not include staff working overseas on official business postings, with the Departments Working Remotely Overseas policy fo...
Answered 10 Jul 2025
Original Parliament record
Published records only — not a full account of an MP’s work. How we work →