Health Incentives Scheme

Debate between Alex Norris and Maggie Throup

Friday 22nd October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Alex Norris (Nottingham North) (Lab/Co-op)]

I am grateful to the Minister for advance sight of her statement.

We on the Opposition Benches have campaigned for many years against this Government’s short-sighted cuts to public health funding. A reduction in spending of a quarter in this area has led to growing obesity in our population, loss of smoking cessation services, a ticking time bomb of poor sexual health, and over-burdened drugs and alcohol services. Of course, any savings made by those cuts has been hoovered up by the impact on the rest of the health service.

Obesity is at crisis level in this country. Two thirds of adults are above a healthy weight; half are obese. One in three children leaves primary school overweight, and one in five is obese. We know that leads to reduced healthy life expectancy, poorer mental health, and worsened outcomes at school and work.

We are not going to argue against measures that attempt to help our public improve their health, but like the obesity strategy that precedes it, this latest pilot is tinkering around the edges. Of course eating better and getting more exercise is important for all of us, but the Government once again fail to adequately address a central point.

Tackling obesity is about tackling poverty. People in the poorest communities are twice as likely to be obese as those in the best off. Poverty limits someone’s food choices, their exercise choices and their time. Why does that not feature at the heart of the Government’s plans to tackle this scourge?

Let us be very clear: whatever this pilot achieves, and whatever the obesity strategy achieves, it will all get knocked into a cocked hat by the £20-a-week cut to universal credit, which will push millions of people on to cheaper, less healthy alternatives. That will happen to adults and to our children. Add that to the broader cost of living crisis and these plans really do look small beer.

At the very least, it is vital that this programme is targeted at those communities that will benefit the most from it, because those cuts to public health have been targeted disproportionately at the poorest communities. Will the Minister make a commitment today that those invited to join this pilot will come from those communities? Will she also commit that this scheme and the obesity strategy are to be followed with a restoration of moneys cut from the public health grant?

We will only tackle obesity once we start tackling poverty. This scheme offers the tantalising prospect of vouchers, merchandise, discounts and even gift cards. I think most people would settle for a Government who do not make them poorer, an economy that allows them a decent job on decent terms and conditions, and decent housing. Frankly, until we get that, this is just tinkering around the edges.

[Maggie Throup]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. We have a common purpose: on both sides of the House, we are determined to tackle obesity. The measures that the Government have already taken—we have allocated £100 million to tackle obesity—show that we are serious about this. That is a huge amount of money. It is important to realise that lots of different measures have already been put in place. This is not tinkering at the edges at all.

We began tackling the issue of obesity a number of years ago with the soft drinks levy. I was delighted that the money raised from that went to school sports. We then tackled inappropriate advertising and promotions, out-of-home calorie labelling and front-of-pack nutrition labelling. We have the weight management programme and numerous other activities. It is important that we look at the population measures that are in place, but now we are also looking, with this new pilot, at individual responsibility—personal responsibility. I am really encouraged by this new approach to tackling obesity.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned other public health issues. Once again, this Government are determined not only to halve childhood obesity by 2030, but to make our nation smoke-free by 2030. We are really committed to tackling the public health issues that, as he quite rightly says, are affecting some of the most deprived parts of our country. The fact that we have launched the new Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows exactly where our commitment lies, and I will continue to fight for this cause as we move forward.

To address the hon. Gentleman’s question about who we will choose for the pilot, we are going to make sure that we choose the right area so that it can really make a difference. That is so important when we are spending public money.