Asked by: Jo Gideon (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 15 of the report by Bite Back entitled Fuel us don't fool us, published in 2024, what steps he is taking to prevent the food industry from targeting children; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring manufacturers to remove (a) child-appealing features and (b) misleading health claims from unhealthy products.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government is committed to working with businesses to ensure we create the conditions for a healthier nation, and we are considering the recommendations from Bite Back’s report, Fuel Us, Don’t Fool Us. We are committed to addressing childhood obesity by implementing an ambitious programme of measures. These include restricting the location of foods high in fat, salt, or sugar in shops and online, which came into force on 1 October 2022. These restrictions will have the single biggest impact on reducing children’s calorie consumption and are expected to accrue health benefits of over £57 billion, and provide the National Health Service savings of over £4 billion over the next 25 years.
On 1 October 2025, the volume price promotion restrictions will come into force, restricting volume price promotions such as three for two offers on less healthy products. The Government will simultaneously introduce a United Kingdom wide 9:00pm television watershed for products high in fat, salt, or sugar, and a restriction of paid-for advertising of these products online. We continue to work with industry on the Food Data Transparency Partnership in co-developing voluntary reporting requirements for food businesses to demonstrate the healthiness of their sales.
Asked by: Jo Gideon (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement of 9 December 2022 on Health Update, HCWS 433, what her planned timetable is for completion of the steps required to implement the introduction of further advertising restrictions on TV and online for less healthy food and drink products; and when she plans to bring forward proposals for the necessary secondary legislation.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
On 1 October 2025, the Government will introduce a United Kingdom-wide 9:00pm television watershed for the advertising of less healthy products, and a restriction of paid-for advertising of these products online. The Government and regulators are working through the necessary steps to implement and enforce the regulations. These steps include consulting, finalising guidance, and laying regulations.
Asked by: Jo Gideon (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to estimate the potential (a) costs and (b) profits on large businesses of proposals to introduce mandatory food waste reporting.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are gathering further evidence using the latest available data in order to retake the decision later this year.
Asked by: Jo Gideon (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's expected timeline is to introduce mandatory food waste reporting for large businesses.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State decided in November 2023 to look again at how best to secure the benefits of food waste reporting for large businesses. We now intend to gather further evidence and re-consider all options in the 2022 consultation, including mandatory reporting, using the latest available data. We expect to make the decision later this year.
Asked by: Jo Gideon (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the proportion of households that are (a) dual fuel, (b) connected to mains gas only and (c) connected to mains electricity only.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The latest official Fuel Poverty Statistics for England were published in February 2023 on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics#2022-Statistics
In England in 2022, 85 per cent of all households were connected to both mains gas and electricity, with 15 per cent of households connected to mains electricity only. Of the households which were not connected to the gas grid an estimated 653 thousand households were fuel poor.
Asked by: Jo Gideon (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the added cost of (a) environmental and (b) social obligations on (i) electricity and (ii) gas bills to the average household in 2023.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
Ofgem, the energy regulator in Great Britain, administers renewable energy and social schemes on behalf of the Government and ensures that policy targets are met in an economical and consumer conscious way. A list of the current environmental and social schemes that are funded through households and business energy bills can be found on their website: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-and-social-schemes.
Asked by: Jo Gideon (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the number of households connected to mains electricity only that are in fuel poverty.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The latest official Fuel Poverty Statistics for England were published in February 2023 on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics#2022-Statistics
In England in 2022, 85 per cent of all households were connected to both mains gas and electricity, with 15 per cent of households connected to mains electricity only. Of the households which were not connected to the gas grid an estimated 653 thousand households were fuel poor.
Asked by: Jo Gideon (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will hold discussions with the (a) Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, (b) Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, (c) Royal College of Occupational Therapists and (d) British Association for Community Child Health on waiting times for community services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Addressing waiting lists is a priority for the Department and the National Health Service, and NHS England has asked local systems to develop and agree plans for reducing their community services waiting lists.
I am planning to meet with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, Royal College of Occupational Therapists and British Association for Community Child Health to discuss waiting times for community services.
Community Health Service Data is published monthly and can be found here Statistics » Community Health Services Waiting Lists (england.nhs.uk)
Asked by: Jo Gideon (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with the SEND in the Specialists coalition on the specialist workforce for children and young people with SEND; and what the outcome was of those discussions.
Answered by David Johnston
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, published on 2 March 2023, set out that the Department for Education will work with the Department of Health and Social Care to take a joint approach to SEND workforce planning, and a steering group has now been established to oversee this work.
As part of the steering group for joint SEND workforce planning, officials are working closely with the SEND in the specialists coalition to seek their views and have regular meetings with representatives from the coalition to gain sector insight and collaborate on ongoing policy work. On the 14 November 2023, officials from the Department for Education attended a coalition meeting where they presented ongoing policy work relating to SEND Practitioner Standards and introduced the department’s new ‘Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools’ (PINS) programme. Officials have taken on board the coalition’s feedback, and that of other stakeholders they have engaged with, in the development of products and guidance to support the delivery of the programmes. In addition to engagement at official level, the former Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing met with the representatives from the coalition last year, and the minister looks forward to continuing these important discussions when he meets with members in the coming months. The department will continue to engage and work together with a range of stakeholders to discuss ways in which we can improve access to the specialist workforce for the many children and young people who need support.
Asked by: Jo Gideon (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide additional funding for social enterprises delivering NHS services.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government greatly appreciates the role of social enterprises in delivering National Health Service services. Social enterprises will have existing contracts with Integrated Care Boards in their local area or with NHS England. These contracts are based on local contracting arrangements and therefore the Government does not anticipate uplifting contracts in-year beyond the existing guidance that NHS England has produced for the ‘2023/24 pay award: revenue finance and contracting guidance’. This guidance is available at the following link:
The Department has been considering its position regarding the 2022/23 non-consolidated funding, which has required significant and detailed legal consideration and will reach a conclusion in due course.