To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the decision to award the contract for a seminar on the Effects of Nutrition on School Attainment under the auspices of the Food Standards Agency to the Smith Institute was the subject of a competitive process; and if she will make a statement. (141256)

In line with HM Treasury and European Union public sector procurement rules, contracts worth less than £25,000 are not normally subject to formal competitive processes because of the disproportionate effort in relation to value. However, all proposals are assessed on a value-for-money basis and given the costs of staging seminars of this kind the Smith Institute proposal represented good value for money.