Governance & Policy Landscape
As shown in the diagram, there are multiple stakeholders across the Gloucestershire food system, bringing together different areas of focus and expertise. Our purpose is to ensure better connection and communication between these stakeholders.
Inevitably, there is a very wide range of central and local government policies and activities which impact on Gloucestershire’s food and farming system. Just to name a few, these include business and farming support; social, environmental and public health policy; public health; public procurement for schools and other institutions, and the planning system.
In total, 15 national departments and public bodies have relevant responsibilities, and then locally, there is the County Council as well as 6 district councils; Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud, Tewkesbury, Forest of Dean and Cotswold.
In addition, we have groups such as the Climate Leadership Group and the Agri-Food and Rural Business Skills Group, which are overseen by the County Council, as well as independent statutory bodies such as the Cotswold National Landscape.
We also benefit from leading research institutes whose reports influence policymakers, like the Royal Agricultural College, Hartpury University, the Countryside and Community Research Institute at the University of Gloucestershire, and Campden BRI.
There is also power in community groups lobbying government, and our umbrella campaign Great Food Gloucestershire aims to provide space for and amplify community voices.
The opportunity to join up these conversations is what this partner network seeks to achieve.