Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of calories per day by which a person's diet will be reduced as a result of the restrictions proposed by the Government on (a) foods high in fat, salt or sugar, (b) broadcast advertising of those foods and (c) online advertising of those foods.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Obesity is a complex problem caused by many different factors to which there is no single solution. We know that regular overconsumption of a relatively small number of calories leads to individuals becoming overweight or obese. Taking action to help reduce this excess calorie consumption will decrease obesity prevalence and obesity related ill health over time. “Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives” takes forward a wide range of measures that all contribute towards this goal, including by reshaping the food environment, providing people with a healthier choice and encouraging them to take it.
The Government published its response to the 2019 consultation ‘Introducing further advertising restriction on TV and online for products high in fat, sugar and salt’ and the 2020 consultation ‘Introducing a total online advertising restriction for products high in fat, sugar and salt’ on 24 June, confirming we will introduce a 9pm TV watershed for high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) product advertising, as well as a restriction of paid-for HFSS advertising online. We have estimated the restrictions could remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets per year in the United Kingdom which, over the coming years, could reduce the number of obese children by more than 20,000.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether reformulated food and drink which is high in fat, salt or sugar will not be allowed to be promoted or advertised under the Government’s proposals to restrict those practices.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Products that are reformulated and achieve the Nutrient Profiling Model threshold will be out of scope of the restrictions and therefore able to be promoted.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the introduction of (a) advertising and (b) promotional restrictions on foods high in fat, salt or sugar on the UK’s competitiveness in attracting inward investment.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The final impact assessments on the proposals to restrict the promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) by location and by volume are available at the following link:
The developmental impact assessment on further advertising restrictions on TV and online was published alongside the 2019 consultation on this policy. This is available at the following link:
An evidence note was published alongside the consultation on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising for HFSS products. This builds on the impact assessment that accompanied the 2019 consultation. This is available at the following link:
We will publish the final impact assessment on further advertising restrictions on TV and online alongside the full response to the consultation shortly.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of plans to introduce (a) advertising and (b) promotional restrictions on foods high in fat, salt or sugar on technical barriers to trade for businesses entering the UK market.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The final impact assessments on the proposals to restrict the promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) by location and by volume are available at the following link:
The developmental impact assessment on further advertising restrictions on TV and online was published alongside the 2019 consultation on this policy. This is available at the following link:
An evidence note was published alongside the consultation on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising for HFSS products. This builds on the impact assessment that accompanied the 2019 consultation. This is available at the following link:
We will publish the final impact assessment on further advertising restrictions on TV and online alongside the full response to the consultation shortly.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the supporting evidence base is for each measure set out in the consultation on an online advertising ban for foods high in fat, salt or sugar.
Answered by Jo Churchill
We published an evidence note alongside the consultation on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising for products high in fat, salt and sugar. The evidence note is available at the following link:
The evidence note builds on the impact assessment that accompanied the 2019 consultation on further advertising restrictions on TV and online, which included estimates of the potential reduction in daily calories consumed by children. This is available at the following link:
In the consultations we have asked about the impact of the proposals on small businesses and are engaging with industry to understand these in more detail to factor in the final policy decision. Government departments work very closely on reducing obesity and share responsibility for delivering the measures set out in ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’.
The Competition Markets Authority has not been asked for an assessment of the potential effect on business competition of plans to restrict online advertising and the promotion of foods high in fat, salt or sugar.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the potential average reduction in personal calorie intake that will result from the proposed online advertising ban on foods high in fat, salt or sugar; and how that estimate was calculated.
Answered by Jo Churchill
We published an evidence note alongside the consultation on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising for products high in fat, salt and sugar. The evidence note is available at the following link:
The evidence note builds on the impact assessment that accompanied the 2019 consultation on further advertising restrictions on TV and online, which included estimates of the potential reduction in daily calories consumed by children. This is available at the following link:
In the consultations we have asked about the impact of the proposals on small businesses and are engaging with industry to understand these in more detail to factor in the final policy decision. Government departments work very closely on reducing obesity and share responsibility for delivering the measures set out in ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’.
The Competition Markets Authority has not been asked for an assessment of the potential effect on business competition of plans to restrict online advertising and the promotion of foods high in fat, salt or sugar.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what input his Department had in the policy-making process underpinning the public consultation on an online advertising ban on foods high in fat, salt or sugar which will introduce commercial and marketing restrictions on large and small businesses.
Answered by Jo Churchill
We published an evidence note alongside the consultation on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising for products high in fat, salt and sugar. The evidence note is available at the following link:
The evidence note builds on the impact assessment that accompanied the 2019 consultation on further advertising restrictions on TV and online, which included estimates of the potential reduction in daily calories consumed by children. This is available at the following link:
In the consultations we have asked about the impact of the proposals on small businesses and are engaging with industry to understand these in more detail to factor in the final policy decision. Government departments work very closely on reducing obesity and share responsibility for delivering the measures set out in ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’.
The Competition Markets Authority has not been asked for an assessment of the potential effect on business competition of plans to restrict online advertising and the promotion of foods high in fat, salt or sugar.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential economic effect on businesses of a reduction in calories as part of the policy-making process for the public consultation on online advertising restrictions for foods high in fat, salt or sugar.
Answered by Jo Churchill
We published an evidence note alongside the consultation on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising for products high in fat, salt and sugar. The evidence note is available at the following link:
The evidence note builds on the impact assessment that accompanied the 2019 consultation on further advertising restrictions on TV and online, which included estimates of the potential reduction in daily calories consumed by children. This is available at the following link:
In the consultations we have asked about the impact of the proposals on small businesses and are engaging with industry to understand these in more detail to factor in the final policy decision. Government departments work very closely on reducing obesity and share responsibility for delivering the measures set out in ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’.
The Competition Markets Authority has not been asked for an assessment of the potential effect on business competition of plans to restrict online advertising and the promotion of foods high in fat, salt or sugar.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Competition Markets Authority has been asked for an assessment of the potential effect on business competition of plans to restrict (a) online advertising and (b) the promotion of foods high in fat, salt or sugar.
Answered by Jo Churchill
We published an evidence note alongside the consultation on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising for products high in fat, salt and sugar. The evidence note is available at the following link:
The evidence note builds on the impact assessment that accompanied the 2019 consultation on further advertising restrictions on TV and online, which included estimates of the potential reduction in daily calories consumed by children. This is available at the following link:
In the consultations we have asked about the impact of the proposals on small businesses and are engaging with industry to understand these in more detail to factor in the final policy decision. Government departments work very closely on reducing obesity and share responsibility for delivering the measures set out in ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’.
The Competition Markets Authority has not been asked for an assessment of the potential effect on business competition of plans to restrict online advertising and the promotion of foods high in fat, salt or sugar.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to prioritise the safe resumption of full care home visitation during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
We want to bring an end to the pain of separation and help care homes bring families and loved ones together. The launch of visitor testing is a crucial step to making that happen.
Following a successful trial in 20 care homes, we have started the phased rollout of new rapid tests to all care homes across England to support visiting. The first 385 care homes are now able to begin testing visitors and we aim to roll this out to all care homes by Christmas.
Testing is only one way of minimising the risk of visiting a care home. If a visitor has a negative test, is wearing appropriate PPE, and following other infection control measures, then it will be possible for family and friends to have more meaningful visits to care homes.