Proposed National Good Food Nation Plan

Part Two – A Practical Approach to Implementation

The importance of effective working mechanisms

The national Good Food Nation Plan provides the framework and building blocks to ensure that Scottish food policy is developed in a more coherent way. Ultimately, the Plan is intended to guide the actions of the Scottish Ministers when making national food policy.

Food policy is incredibly varied and complex: the policy map at Figure 2 provides a high level illustration of how many different areas of the Scottish Government make policy that relates to food.

All of these individual policies and interventions are inputs that are required to realise the six Good Food Nation Outcomes. This point is demonstrated in Part Four of this plan, where we explicitly link each policy area to the Outcome(s) that it contributes towards.

To achieve real and lasting food systems transformation we must focus not only on ensuring that we design the right policy inputs, but also on ensuring that the machine of government runs smoothly to maximise their impact.

If each policy area makes decisions in isolation from the others, without the clear vision of a common goal, then the result can be policies that compete with rather than complement each other. No individual policy can achieve an Outcome by itself: the collective impact is strengthened when policies work together. Lack of cohesion in policymaking can reduce or narrow the effectiveness of individual policies and hinder our overall progress towards achieving and maintaining a Good Food Nation.

The Good Food Nation Plan is intended to be a new tool to tackle this issue. It encourages a broader and more strategic approach to food policy, enabling us to better understand the interconnected nature of food-related policies.

A Good Food Nation approach improves our ability to identify policies that deliver benefits across multiple areas. Conversely, it means that we are also better able to recognise policy initiatives that are not delivering across the breadth of food-related policy, and consider how to improve their effectiveness.

This is not a small task, and it cannot be accomplished quickly. However, we know it is fundamental to effecting real change so that the decisions we make, and the actions we take, move us closer to the realisation of a better food system that actively supports our wellbeing and the wellbeing of our planet.

The circular image below is split into six segments. Each segment represents a different Director General of the Scottish Government which is involved in food related policy. This is not a full list but rather a condensed summary.

DG Net Zero

• Agricultural policy
• Animal welfare
• Biodiversity
• Circular economy and zero waste
• Climate change
• Food and Drink policy
• Just transition
• Marine policy

DG Corporate

• Public procurement policy

DG Health and Social Care

• Diet and heathy weight
• Mental wellbeing
• Environmental health
• Population health framework

DG Communities

• Best Start Foods
• Tackling child poverty
• Household food insecurity
• Human rights
• Planning
• Local government
• Social security

DG Economy

• Tourism policy
• Retail policy
• Community wealth building
• Fair work
• International trade
• Wellbeing economy

DG Education and justice

• Early nutrition and diet
• Early learning and childcare
• School age childcare
• Food education
• Food and drink in schools

Embedding a joined-up approach

It is essential that we work on ensuring that a joined-up approach to formulating food policy is thoroughly embedded across the Scottish Government. In this section we propose how we will continue to foster and increase collaboration across relevant portfolios.

The Ministerial Working Group on Food will continue to act as the mechanism for cross-portfolio discussions and decision-making on food related policy at the Ministerial level.

At national policy level, we have already made great progress in building on existing connections and collaborations whilst drafting this first plan. We have begun to take steps to formalise this approach by convening a working group on Good Food Nation, made up of representative policy officials from across portfolios. This official-level group has supported us to build on and refine this plan after the public consultation.

This working group will transform into a regular policy forum to allow policy officials to discuss complex issues. Through regular meetings it will be possible to work through challenges and identify opportunities for developing new food-related policy in a coherent manner.

The Official and Ministerial working groups will interact at appropriate points with other relevant groups within the Scottish Government, for example groups working on climate change policy.

The Good Food Nation team will play a key role in this: acting as a conduit and facilitator for policy teams to build on and enhance existing cross-policy working and facilitate an exchange of ideas across government at all levels.

The practical effect of the Plan: the duty to have regard to the Plan

Changes to working practices are fundamental, and lie at the heart of the Good Food Nation approach. New food policy must be created and developed with the shared Outcomes in mind if it is to be fully effective. The Act delivers a brand new mechanism to ensure this consideration is taken.

Section 6 of the Act, requires the Scottish Ministers to have regard to^[16] the national Good Food Nation Plan when exercising certain functions specified in secondary legislation^[17]. In practice, this means that the Scottish Ministers and their officials must consider how the particular function that they are exercising, such as policy development, impacts on or contributes to the achievement of the Outcomes.

This will ensure that food policy and the ambition to achieve the Outcomes in the plan will be incorporated across a wide range of policy areas, encouraging a joined up and interconnected approach.

Links to strategic overarching policies

This national Good Food Nation Plan takes into consideration the context of other cross-policy strategies, plans and programmes that are both underway and forthcoming. Many of these have interlinked and overlapping ambitions about the future of Scotland. In turn, the six Good Food Nation Outcomes will influence the direction of future work, as policymakers and the Scottish Ministers seek to ensure that food-related policy plans are developed in line with these Outcomes. The over-arching policy areas that have played a part in formulating the Good Food Nation Outcomes are set out below. Links to more detailed documents relating to these areas have been provided in Part Four.

Human rights

Recognition of human rights forms part of the legislation that underpins this plan. Section 5 of the Act stipulates that in preparing this plan, the Scottish Ministers must have regard to a number of specific international human rights instruments. Further discussion of how we have embedded human rights in this plan can be found in Part One.

Child poverty

The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 sets in statute ambitious targets to significantly reduce the proportion of children living in poverty in Scotland, and provides a robust framework to drive forward action and to report on progress at a local and national level. The Scottish Government’s second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan for the period 2022-26, Best Start, Bright Futures, sets out how the Scottish Government will work with partners across Scotland to increase household incomes, reduce the costs of living and to improve the lives and outcomes of children and families. A delivery plan for the period 2026-31 will be published by the end of March 2026.

Climate Change; Biodiversity; the Road to Net Zero; and a Just Transition

It is impossible to separate any discussion of food and food systems from ongoing work to transition Scotland to net zero emissions. Closely linked to the issue of climate change is the issue of biodiversity loss: the two are of the same order of importance when it comes to environmental protection. Policymakers must consider the climate change and environmental impacts of any food-related policy development.

Land Reform

Scotland's land is a precious national resource that is fundamental to our economy, our environment, our wellbeing, and our just transition to net zero. The Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement articulates our vision for the ownership, use and management of land, and is clear that all land should support sustainable economic development, protect and enhance the environment, support a just transition to net zero, help achieve social justice, and build a fairer society for the common good.

Vision for Agriculture

The Vision for Agriculture outlines our aim to transform how we support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture that delivers high quality food production, climate mitigation and adaptation, and nature restoration.

The Vision makes clear Scotland will have a robust and coherent framework to underpin our future agricultural support regime from 2025 onwards to support our farmers, crofters, and land managers.

Food Safety, Standards, and Nutrition

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) is Scotland’s public sector food body and was established in 2015. FSS acts as a trusted and authoritative source both for the public and for the Scottish Government. Food policy development must also be considered in the context of the Scottish Dietary Goals. These describe, in nutritional terms, the diet that will improve and support the health of the Scottish population. Adherence to the Goals would increase the number of people who are a healthy weight and reduce the incidence of diet-related conditions^[18]. The Goals are used for monitoring and informing policies to improve Scotland’s diet.

National Planning Framework (NPF4)

This framework sets the spatial strategy for Scotland’s long-term development. It, along with local development plans prepared by planning authorities across Scotland, forms the development plan for a given area. Decisions on planning applications must be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

National Marine Plan

This plan provides the guiding framework for sustainable management of marine activities and resources in Scotland’s seas.

Wellbeing Economy

The Scottish Government aims to build a fair, green, and growing economy that is prosperous, resilient, and sustainable, supporting people to live happier and healthier lives with higher living standards. This transition requires long-term, system-wide change, and the involvement of all society.

Community Wealth Building

This is both a policy and practical economic development model which aims to reduce economic and wealth inequality by supporting the generation, circulation, and retention of wealth in local and regional economies and intended to ensure that the Scottish Government achieves wellbeing economy objectives. This aims to support the retention of wealth in local communities and give people in those communities a greater stake in the economy of which they are a part.

Fair Work

Although employment law is reserved to the UK Government, we aim to use Fair Work policy to promote fairer work practices across the labour market in Scotland.

Food Security

The Scottish Government has set up a Food Security Unit which is working to establish baseline indicators for Scotland’s food security, which can then form the basis for both strategic considerations and the management of short-term shocks.

Population Health Framework

The Population Health Framework for Scotland takes a cross-government, cross-sector approach to improving the key building blocks of health and reducing health inequalities. The Framework focuses on primary prevention activities that try to stop problems happening in the first place, ensuring that efforts to improve well-being are coordinated and comprehensive.

The central aim of the Population Health Framework is to improve Scottish life expectancy whilst reducing the life expectancy gap between the most deprived 20% of local areas and the national average. This Framework will be supported by a Diet and Healthy Weight Implementation Plan, focused in part on improving the food environment.

The National Good Food Nation Plan aligns closely with the Population Health Framework. A better food system is integral to improving population health in Scotland and reducing health inequalities. This plan provides a cross-policy approach to ensuring the collective action required, complementing and supporting the wide range of actions under the Population Health Framework.

Early Child Development Transformational Change Programme

This programme is focused on the pre-birth to three period, recognising that what children experience during their early years provides the foundations for health and life skills. This includes a focus on women who are preparing for pregnancy, who are pregnant, after pregnancy, and between pregnancies, to minimise or eliminate known risk factors which impact on the health and wellbeing of their babies at birth and into adulthood.

The Good Food Nation supports improved early child development because appropriate and sufficient food and nutrition is one of the four things babies need to support their optimal development, along with sensitive, responsive caregiving; play and stimulation; and to be kept safe from harm.

The Good Food Nation Process

Achieving a Good Food Nation is a process and not an event: the Scottish Government will update both our ambitions for the Good Food Nation and our measures for assessing progress towards them by publishing refreshed and revised versions of the national Good Food Nation Plan at regular intervals. Every two years we will publish a progress report. At least every five years we will review and, as necessary, revise the Plan. We will continue to engage with key stakeholders including the food-related business sector as part of this process. Every iteration of the Plan will be subject to both public consultation and Parliamentary scrutiny.

Relevant authorities (currently local authorities and territorial health boards) are required by the Act to produce Good Food Nation Plans of their own, and to have regard to this national Plan when doing so.^[19] The same reporting and revision requirements that apply to the national Plan will also apply to relevant authority Good Food Nation Plans. Relevant authorities will be required to hold consultations on their Plans, but they are not required to lay the Plans before the Scottish Parliament.

Whilst this Plan can and must serve as a guide for relevant authorities, it is for the authorities themselves to determine the Outcomes, measures and policies that are best suited to achieving a Good Food Nation in their particular areas.

We will continue to engage and work collaboratively with relevant authorities, individually as well as through representative bodies, such as COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) to ensure they have the information and resources they require to comply with their statutory duties. We will explore options to provide a forum for relevant authorities to exchange ideas and learn from best practice.

As we move through the cycles of revising and reviewing the forthcoming Good Food Nation Plans, there will be opportunities to share learning across Scotland, and between local and national levels. By exchanging these views, we can fill knowledge gaps, foster creative and innovative ideas, and make better decisions that help cut down on costs and improve efficiency.

Oversight and Reporting

The Act also provides for the establishment of a new public body: the Scottish Food Commission.^{[20] [21]} This new Commission will review the progress and effectiveness of national and relevant authorities’ Good Food Nation Plans. It will advise, inform, and assist the Scottish Ministers and relevant authorities with a view to promoting and supporting progress to achieve the outcomes and also improving the effectiveness of the plans in addressing food related issues. This means the national Plan and the relevant authority Plans will be independently scrutinised. This independent oversight by the Scottish Food Commission will play a pivotal role in ensuring that the Outcomes and activities set out in the Good Food Nation Plans are both ambitious and effective in promoting the positive transformation of our food system. Their recommendations, which will be published and available to read to the general public, will be key in the continuous improvement process.

Figure 3 sets out a visual representation of the process.

The figure represents the review and revision process for the national Good Food Nation Plan.

Main consultation and publication process

1. Scottish Ministers draft a national Good Food Nation Plan.

2. Scottish Ministers hold a public consultation on the draft of their Plan.

3. Scottish Ministers lay draft Plan in Parliament for scrutiny.

4. Scottish Ministers publish and lay in Parliament a final version of the national Good Food Nation Plan.

Reporting Process

There is a reporting period. This period lasts two years from the date of publication of the Scottish Ministers Good Food Nation Plan (step 4 above) and every subsequent period of two years after that.

As soon as practicable after the end of each reporting period, Scottish Ministers must publish a Good Food Nation Plan Progress Report.

Review and Revision Process

Before the end of the period lasting 5 years from the date of publication of the national Good Food Nation Plan (step 3 above) and each subsequent period of 5 years, Scottish Ministers must review their Good Food Nation Plan and decide if they wish to revise it.

When deciding whether or not to revise the Plan they must have regard to any recommendations made by the Scottish Food Commission.

If Scottish Ministers decide to revise the national Plan then they must repeat the steps in the main consultation and publication process, i.e draft a revised Plan, hold a public consultation on that draft, lay the draft in Parliament and then publish a final version of the revised Plan.

KEY POINT: The two year reporting period and five year review period repeat and do not reset with the publication of a revised Plan: the dates are always calculated from the date the first Good Food Nation Plan is published.