Proposed National Good Food Nation Plan

The Legislative Basis of The National Good Food Nation Plan

The Scottish Government published a new food and drink policy in 2014 - Becoming a Good Food Nation. This set out a vision for Scotland to be “a Good Food Nation, where people from every walk of life take pride and pleasure in, and benefit from, the food they produce, buy, cook, serve, and eat each day”.

To realise this ambition, the Scottish Ministers introduced framework legislation in the form of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 (“the Act”). This legislation brings together the great variety of food-related work across government under a single umbrella.

Under the Act, the Scottish Ministers are required to produce a national Good Food Nation Plan (“the Plan”) which sets out the Government’s goals for food policy and how it intends to achieve them. The Act sets out a number of requirements regarding the Plan and the content it must include. These are outlined fully in Annex A, but briefly:

• The Plan must include the main Outcomes in relation to food-related issues which the Scottish Ministers want to achieve.
• The Plan must include indicators or other measures by which progress towards achieving the Outcomes can be assessed.
• The Plan must include the policies the Scottish Ministers intend to pursue in order to achieve the Outcomes. It must also set out the Scottish Ministers’ plans for ensuring the implementation of these policies is informed by the views of the food business sector.
• When determining the content of the Plan, the Scottish Ministers must have regard to the scope for food-related issues to affect outcomes in relation to a list of specified subject areas (although other areas may also be considered).
• When preparing the Plan, the Scottish Ministers must have regard to a set of five specific principles and a list of international instruments that are set out in the Act.