Jas Athwal

The Government is committed to radically scaling up deployment of technologies such as onshore wind, as demonstrated by our lifting of the planning ban earlier this year.

A clean power system will protect consumers from global gas prices and fluctuations which, as a result of the failure of the party opposite, drove increases of over £1,300 in the electricity price cap for a typical household during the winter of 2022 / 2023.

Health inequalities in the United Kingdom are stark, with life expectancy differing dramatically between and within communities. People living in the most deprived areas are likely to die earlier and spend more years in ill health than those living in the least deprived areas.

We are taking a cross-Government mission-led approach to tackle the root causes of health inequalities, including addressing the social determinants of health, which include housing, poverty, fair opportunities, and education.

The Department has not made an assessment of the potential correlation between the number of fast food outlets opening and recent trends in the level of obesity in the Ilford South constituency. However, children living in the most deprived areas see five times more fast food outlets on their high streets and are also over twice as likely to be living with obesity compared with the least deprived areas

The food environment can influence dietary choices. Meals eaten outside of the home tend to be associated with higher calories, and portion sizes tend to be bigger. In addition, people who eat more food from the out of home sector tend to have a poorer quality diet and a higher weight for height. The food environment is an important modifiable determinant of dietary behaviour and obesity, and the revised National Planning Policy Framework for local government published last December gives stronger, clearer powers to block new fast food outlets near schools and where young people congregate

The Department publishes breakdowns of child and adult obesity prevalence and the number of fast food outlets per 100,000 population at a local authority level. Information is not available for Ilford South, but it is available for the London Borough of Redbridge, which includes Ilford South. In 2024, Redbridge had 127 fast food outlets per 100,000 population, which is an increase from 69.9 per 100,000 in 2017, as per the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ (OHID) 2025 Public Health Profiles. The following table shows the obesity prevalence in the London Borough of Redbridge, from the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) academic year 2006/07 to 2023/24:

Source: National Child Measurement Programme.

In addition, the following table shows adult, those aged 18 years old and over, obesity prevalence in the London Borough of Redbridge, from 2015/16 to 2022/23:

Source: Active Lives adult survey, OHID analysis of data from Sport England.

The data is not available in the format requested. Prevalence of obesity for children aged four to five years old and 10 to 11 years old is available from the National Child Measurement Programme. The Department publish breakdowns of obesity prevalence by Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile at a local authority level. Information is not available for Ilford South, but it is available for the London Borough of Redbridge, which includes Ilford South. The following table shows the obesity prevalence by IMD quintile and school year for the London Borough of Redbridge:

Source: National Child Measurement Programme, five years of data combined for academic years ending 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024.

The prevalence of obesity in adults by local authority or parliamentary constituency and deprivation is not available.

Poverty is wide determinant of health. Although poverty is not a direct cause of specific health conditions, poverty can be a risk factor for malnutrition, obesity, ill mental health, and tooth decay. The Department is working closely with the Child Poverty Taskforce to develop and deliver an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life. An important part of this will be alleviating the negative experiences of living in poverty through supporting families and enhancing public services.

Under the Health Mission, the Government is committed to prevention and to tackling obesity, creating a fairer, healthier food environment. This will contribute to the mission goals of fewer lives lost to the biggest killers and a fairer Britain where everyone lives well for longer.

The Government has already laid secondary legislation to restrict the advertisement of less healthy food and drink to children on television and online from 1 October 2025, announced changes to the planning framework for fast food outlets near schools, and is committed to banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under-16 year olds.

Existing initiatives such as the Healthy Start scheme, introduced in 2006, encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households. Pregnant women and families with children aged over one years old and under four years old each receive £4.25 every week, and families with children under one years old each receive £8.50 every week. Healthy Start can be used to buy, or be put towards the cost of, fresh, frozen or tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried and tinned pulses, milk and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries also have access to free Healthy Start vitamins.

Disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools, as well as 16 to 18-year-old students in further education, are entitled to receive free meals on the basis of low income. In addition, all children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 in England's state-funded schools are entitled to universal infant free school meals.  The Government also supports families through the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which provides free childcare places, enriching activities, and healthy meals to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing, and learning throughout the school holidays.

At a local level, officials in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ regional teams work closely with local partners, including local authorities and the National Health Service, to support them with local initiatives to promote a healthy lifestyle and tackle obesity. All of our polices and their impacts are kept under review.

NHS England has given £3 million of funding to systems to provide clinical leadership to ensure that clinical diabetes metrics, such as the eight key diabetes care processes and treatment targets, are reviewed at an integrated care board level and unwarranted variation identified. A resource hub of materials has been set up on Future NHS, including examples of innovation and best practice for improvement of care process delivery, and achievement of treatment targets.

NHS England has established a focused engagement campaign, using social media and more traditional approaches, to raise awareness and boost uptake from these groups as part of its approach to address the poorer outcomes for those of south Asian and black ethnicity.

NHS England is aware that standard approaches to diabetes prevention and care can miss high risk individuals or be less effective for those who do not fit the demographic profile that these interventions were originally designed for. Redbridge Place Partnership, near Ilford, is an example of the local National Health Service taking a culturally sensitive and tailored approach to improve outreach in communities that have historically shown lower engagement with mainstream health services.

Redbridge Place is collaborating with system-wide partners, including the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector, to identify South Asian residents and other high-risk groups vulnerable to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and renal conditions. The aim is to reduce risk factors and ensure early intervention through optimised care pathways and national prevention programmes by improving access, integrating community engagement, and creating culturally sensitive health promotion strategies that reduce the diabetes gap.