Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their policy paper Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives, published on 27 July, when they will publish their plans to expand weight management services available through the NHS.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Alongside work to establish the National Institute for Health Protection, the Government continues to focus on health improvement and preventing ill-health, including tackling obesity, with support from the expert teams currently located in Public Health England (PHE). We do not envisage any changes to where those responsibilities will sit before spring 2021.
We have established an external stakeholder advisory group to help us develop our thinking on the best future arrangements for prevention, health improvement and delivery of public healthcare services including where PHE’s health improvement functions would be best placed in order to support the public health system and improve the public’s health. We will be engaging more widely over the coming months.
Through Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives we are delivering a range of measures on weight management, including expanding weight management services to help more people get the support they need and making conversations about weight in primary care the norm. Further details about these measures will be available later in the year.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the policy paper Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives, published on 27 July, what steps they are taking to help people with severe and complex obesity maintain a healthy weight following weight loss.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Alongside work to establish the National Institute for Health Protection, the Government continues to focus on health improvement and preventing ill-health, including tackling obesity, with support from the expert teams currently located in Public Health England (PHE). We do not envisage any changes to where those responsibilities will sit before spring 2021.
We have established an external stakeholder advisory group to help us develop our thinking on the best future arrangements for prevention, health improvement and delivery of public healthcare services including where PHE’s health improvement functions would be best placed in order to support the public health system and improve the public’s health. We will be engaging more widely over the coming months.
Through Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives we are delivering a range of measures on weight management, including expanding weight management services to help more people get the support they need and making conversations about weight in primary care the norm. Further details about these measures will be available later in the year.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to consider revenue-raising opportunities and consequential behavioural changes through the levying of taxes on online and television advertisements.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government introduced a Digital Services Tax (DST) in April 2020, which is designed to ensure tech firms with UK user generated content pay their fair share of tax in the UK.
The DST applies to businesses that provide a social media platform, search engine or an online marketplace to UK users. The provision of these services includes the carrying on of any associated online advertising business.
The DST is a temporary measure until an appropriate international solution is in place.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish a mobile national digital technology support force, in partnership with local authorities and the private sector, to assist those who struggle with digital technology, including (1) the elderly, and (2) economically and socially disadvantaged groups.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Government recognises that, although we live in an increasingly online world, a significant part of the population remains digitally excluded. There are currently no plans to establish a national digital technology support force. There are, however, a number of initiatives that tackle the digital divide in partnership with local authorities and the private sector.
In 2017 the Digital Skills Partnership was established by DCMS to bring together the public, private and third sector to improve digital skills across the spectrum. We have worked closely with Local Enterprise Partnerships and Combined Authorities to establish Local Digital Skills Partnerships in seven regions. These bring together key regional stakeholders to address local digital skills challenges.
The introduction of the Digital Entitlement means that from August 2020, adults with no or low digital skills can undertake new digital qualifications free of charge. The Government also supports the Future Digital Inclusion Programme. Since 2014, the programme has helped over 1.4 million people to gain the digital skills they need for life and work.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement (1) the proposals contained in Childhood obesity: a plan for action - Chapter 2, published in June 2018, and (2) the recommendations relating to childhood obesity outlined in the Green Paper Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s, published in July 2019.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We published Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives on 27 July. The strategy demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity, takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan and sets our measures to get the nation fit and healthy, protect against COVID-19 and protect the National Health Service.
In addition, Public Health England has launched the Better Health campaign, which will call on people to embrace a healthier lifestyle and to lose weight if they need to, supported by a range of evidence-based tools and apps providing advice on how to reduce the waistline.
A copy of Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives is attached.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports of the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has on people living with obesity, what plans they have to develop a campaign to encourage people to make healthy choices; with whom they have engaged on the development of any such plans; and whether they intend to publish those plans.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We published Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives on 27 July. The strategy demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity, takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan and sets our measures to get the nation fit and healthy, protect against COVID-19 and protect the National Health Service.
In addition, Public Health England has launched the Better Health campaign, which will call on people to embrace a healthier lifestyle and to lose weight if they need to, supported by a range of evidence-based tools and apps providing advice on how to reduce the waistline.
A copy of Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives is attached.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the evidence that informed their decision to include people with a BMI over 40 on the list of those most at risk of worse outcomes from COVID-19; and why people with a BMI lower than 40 who are overweight or obese were not in included in that category.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 or above is not one of the specific medical conditions that expert doctors in England identified as placing someone at greatest risk of severe illness from COVID-19 (clinically extremely vulnerable) and requiring them to shield.
It is, however, one of the health conditions identified as putting someone at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 (clinically vulnerable). Those with BMI over 40 were eligible for a free influenza vaccination last winter, and that is the basis for including them in the clinically vulnerable cohort.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to convene a meeting with the Members of Parliament who represent the constituencies with the highest levels of child obesity to consider the Government's proposals for reducing obesity.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Ministers have regular conversations with hon. Members on measures to reduce obesity.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what will be the terms of reference of the independent inquiry into COVID-19, announced on 15 July; and whether that inquiry will examine the prevalence of diabetes and obesity as key risk factors for patients with COVID-19.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Government has always been clear that there will be opportunities to look back, analyse and reflect on all aspects of COVID-19. As the Prime Minister has said, this will include an independent inquiry at the appropriate time. For now the Government is focused entirely on responding to the pandemic and saving lives. Further details will be set out in due course and announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of population growth on climate change; and what discussions they have had (1) with other governments, and (2) within intergovernmental agencies in which they are a member, about any such impact.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
There is a connection between population growth, sustainable development and climate change, though unsustainable consumption remains the primary driver of climate change and environmental degradation.
The Government has placed a high priority on tackling climate change and protecting the environment and, as part of this, we have committed to double our international climate finance over the next five years. This will help developing countries reduce global carbon emissions, cope with the climate change impacts that are already locked in, and invest more in nature.
We regularly discuss all aspects of climate change and environmental degradation with other governments and intergovernmental agencies and will continue to play a leading role in international work to combat these issues. Next year we will be hosting the international climate change discussions (COP26) in Glasgow, at which we want to secure commitments to take more ambitious and urgent action.