Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether staff at UK Sport were told they would be entering a period of consultation in advance of the staff and budget reductions for the 2028 Olympic Games cycle and Olympic and Paralympic athlete programmes.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

UK Sport’s change process is ongoing, but has been subject to a full and comprehensive consultation with staff.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what national initiatives have been introduced to improve the health of the nation by tackling obesity, improving mental health and promoting physical activity, since the establishment of the Office of Health Promotion.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises that prevention will always be better, and cheaper, than a cure. Under our Health Mission, we will take preventative public health measures to tackle the biggest killers and support people to live longer, healthier lives. We have a bold ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children in our history – giving every child a healthy start in life.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) was established as a group within the Department in 2021 following the closure of Public Health England. OHID’s role is to improve the nation’s health so that everyone can expect to live more of life in good health, and to reduce health inequalities.

Policies implemented to tackle obesity include the introduction of calorie labelling in large restaurants, cafes and takeaways, and the restriction on placement of less healthy food and drink in key selling locations in store and online.

To address obesity and promote healthy eating and physical activity, OHID has delivered behaviour change tools such as the NHS Weight Loss Plan app, Couch to 5k, Active 10, 10 Minute Shake Up, Start for Life and Healthy Steps email programmes through “Better Health” Campaigns. OHID delivered the Better Health rewards pilot, in Wolverhampton, to test whether financial incentives can be used to support people to make healthier choices in their diet and increase physical activity. With Sport England, OHID has delivered support and training to equip health care professionals to enable patients to move more to improve their physical and mental health.

National initiatives to improve mental health include the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges across England, and the publication of a new five-year Suicide Prevention Strategy for England in September 2023.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the outcome to the consultation The new alcohol duty system, which ran from 27 October 2021 to 30 January 2022, has met the stated core principles by making the system (1) simpler, (2) more economically rational, and (3) less administratively burdensome on businesses.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

A new duty structure for alcohol products was introduced in August 2023 by the previous Government.

HMRC plans to evaluate the impact of the new rates and structures three years after the changes took effect. This will allow time for HMRC to gather a broad range of data with which to evaluate the impacts.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to either (1) extending, or (2) making permanent, the wine temporary easement period in order to meet the core principles outlined in The new alcohol duty system consultation, which ran from 27 October 2021 to 30 January 2022, to make the alcohol duty system (a) simpler, (b) more economically rational, and (c) less administratively burdensome.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Chancellor and Exchequer Secretary regularly receive representations on the tax system from a wide range of stakeholders and welcome their views.

The current, temporary duty easement for wine is due to end on 1 February 2025.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of challenges of producing wine which is accurately and predictably within a range of 0.5 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV) for the purposes of taxation, given that wine is an agricultural product and dependent on weather; and what assessment they have made of the impact of introducing alcohol duty bands of 0.5 per cent ABV on (1) businesses, and (2) the consumer.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Chancellor and Exchequer Secretary regularly receive representations on the tax system from a wide range of stakeholders and welcome their views.

The current, temporary duty easement for wine is due to end on 1 February 2025.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government how the proposed increase in the number of taxation bands for wine will reduce the administrative burden on the wine trade, as outlined in the consultation The new alcohol duty system, which ran from 27 October 2021 to 30 January 2022.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Chancellor and Exchequer Secretary regularly receive representations on the tax system from a wide range of stakeholders and welcome their views.

The current, temporary duty easement for wine is due to end on 1 February 2025.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the wine industry with the added cost of packaging required as part of the Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme; and how much they expect the scheme to add to a 750ml wine bottle in addition to (1) the additional duty in 2023, and (2) further duties resulting from the new wine duty regime to be introduced in 2025.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government is committed to supporting the wine industry and ensuring the UK has a thriving and diverse economy to drive growth.

The Government published illustrative base fees in August 2024 to support industry with their readiness in advance of the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) scheme being implemented from next year.

Producers can use these illustrative base fees to begin understanding their estimated pEPR costs. These are not the final fees; they are our initial estimate, based on the best evidence available. Government intends to publish refined figures for the illustrative base fees by the end of September 2024.

Final fee rates for the first year of EPR for packaging (2025/26) will be released in summer 2025, following the 1 April 2025 deadline to submit packaging totals supplied by registered producers for the preceding calendar year.

The pEPR will contribute to Government’s mission to transition Britain to a circular economy and will work alongside the wine industry to meet this aim.

Found: Proposal 19: Letter from Baroness Hayter, Baroness Hoey, Baroness Jenkin of Kennington, Baroness Ludford, Lord