Health Taxes

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe Excerpts

Wednesday 12th October 2022 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to extend the use of health taxes in the wider fiscal system.

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

My Lords, given both the historically high tax burden and the cost of living pressures facing families, the Government have no current plans to extend the use of health taxes. Nevertheless, having a fit and healthy population is essential for a thriving economy and we remain committed to doing everything we can to help people live healthier lives, including by investing in sports and nutrition education to give children the very best start.

[Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Lab)]

My Lords, as you would expect, I am rather disappointed with that reply, although it is not unexpected. I hope the Government are prepared to review their position on this. In 30 years, we have had 14 different strategies on health, yet we now have more obesity, more diabetes and more health problems related to overeating and overdrinking. The two factors that have had the biggest impact on behavioural change are, first, on smoking, the increase in price introduced by my party, which the Tories opposed. That was the biggest factor that changed attitudes. Secondly, I commend the Government for their work on the special levy on soft drinks introduced in 2019. There are rumours that it is to be abandoned, so will the Minister confirm that they will not abandon it? As it takes time to work these issues through, would he agree to meet with Imperial College to look at the work that has been done on taxation and how it can be brought into being without increasing the cost of living greatly?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

There were a number of questions there. Tackling obesity is a major priority for this Government and we are taking up a mixture of issues. We continue to invest in supporting public health and tackling obesity. This includes a £200 million a year programme to continue the holidays, activities and food programme. To come back to the noble Lord’s points, the soft drinks levy has had an effect. Some 44% of drinks now have a reduced sugar level and that is feeding through to 36,000 individuals being less likely to become obese.