Correspondence
Email sent to the Department of Education in England.
The email described connections between suppliers to the education sector in England - Birds Eye and Young's Seafood - and the use of forced labor in China's food processing industry.
Ana Scanlan, Press Officer, replied to acknowledge receipt of the query and saying "we’ll look into this for you and come back with some answers to your questions."
Ana Scanlan, Press Officer, send an update on the handling of the query, saing it had been passed "to DBT, FCDO and DEFRA, one of whom will come back to you before your deadline."
The Outlaw Ocean Project thanked Ana for the update and asked: We had understood from gov.uk that the Department for Education Schools Commercial Team leads on the 'Buying for Schools' program, which delivers services to support schools in buying goods and services, including the frozen seafood relevant to our enquiry. Is this incorrect? Can we expect a response from the Department for Education and, if not, why? Should we also direct any further enquiries related to UK public procurement (in other sectors) to the Department for Business and Trade, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs? If so, please can you provide us with the appropriate contact points in these agencies?
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed the department saying that the deadline for response had expired without any further communication from either the department itself or the other government departments cited in by the Department of Education's press officer in previous correspondence.
Ana Scanlan, Press Officer at the Department of Education, replied: "This would I’m afraid be one for those depts to come back to you as it’s more to do with supply chains than what is provided in schools. I’ll chase them up for you."