Drive to help schools and hospitals work with small-scale suppliers

A drive to improve food standards will see a new portal developed to allow schools and hospitals to work with small-scale local suppliers.

The government scheme aims to provide schoolchildren and hospital patients with a greater variety of dishes produced from high quality ingredients.

It is due to launch in spring 2024 as a single online portal that will widen access to a range of food and drink suppliers for the public sector and "significantly reduce costs".

All suppliers available on the portal, devised by the Crown Commercial Service, will have to adhere to the updated government buying standards for food, which will be set out by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Under the initial stages of the agreement, the scheme is estimated to attract £100m worth of spend over the four-year contract period.

Alex Burghart, parliamentary secretary for the Cabinet Office, said: "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."

Burghart added: "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."