To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent discussions he has had with (a) Tescos, (b) Asda, (c) Sainsbury’s, (d) Morrisons, (e) Waitrose and (f) The Co-op on the introduction of (i) a revised Groceries Supply Code of Practice and (ii) a supermarket ombudsman. (275079)

[holding answer 12 May 2009]: Ministers and BIS officials hold regular meetings with businesses to discuss a range of issues as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings. There have not been any recent meetings with the named grocery retailers specifically held to discuss the Competition Commission’s (CC) proposals to strengthen the groceries supply code of practice (GSCOP), or to set up a GSCOP ombudsman.