Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
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 22 May 2025, HCWS652, on Childhood obesity, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of delaying the legal implementation of advertising restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026 on children's health outcomes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
We have not undertaken an assessment of the impact of moving the enforcement date of the restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026, or of providing an exemption for ‘brand advertising’ from the regulations, because we are not changing the policy but instead providing legal clarification on an existing aspect of the policy. We have secured a unique and public commitment from advertisers and broadcasters to voluntarily comply with the restrictions from 1 October 2025, meaning we do not expect to see adverts for specific identifiable less healthy products shown on television between 5:30am and 9:00pm, or at any time online. Therefore, from 1 October, we expect to achieve the outcomes of the policy as planned, which will protect children from the harms of junk food advertising and begin to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets each year.
We received representation from a range of stakeholders in response to the Advertising Standards Authority's revised implementation guidance, and following my written statement of 7 April 2025. This included written correspondence from industry bodies, broadcasters, advertisers, and non-government organisations. We listened carefully to the concerns raised by all stakeholders, and we have worked with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to find a resolution that supports economic growth by ensuring that industry has the confidence to invest in advertising that complies with the restrictions, whilst protecting children from advertising of less healthy products.
An impact assessment was published in 2021, along with the laying of the primary legislation, which recognised that brand advertising that did not identify less healthy products is out of the scope of the restrictions. This remains fit-for-purpose, as we are not changing the policy but providing legal clarification on the existing policy.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
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 7 April 2025 on Childhood Obesity, HCWS579, whether her Department received representations from industry after that statement was made.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
We have not undertaken an assessment of the impact of moving the enforcement date of the restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026, or of providing an exemption for ‘brand advertising’ from the regulations, because we are not changing the policy but instead providing legal clarification on an existing aspect of the policy. We have secured a unique and public commitment from advertisers and broadcasters to voluntarily comply with the restrictions from 1 October 2025, meaning we do not expect to see adverts for specific identifiable less healthy products shown on television between 5:30am and 9:00pm, or at any time online. Therefore, from 1 October, we expect to achieve the outcomes of the policy as planned, which will protect children from the harms of junk food advertising and begin to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets each year.
We received representation from a range of stakeholders in response to the Advertising Standards Authority's revised implementation guidance, and following my written statement of 7 April 2025. This included written correspondence from industry bodies, broadcasters, advertisers, and non-government organisations. We listened carefully to the concerns raised by all stakeholders, and we have worked with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to find a resolution that supports economic growth by ensuring that industry has the confidence to invest in advertising that complies with the restrictions, whilst protecting children from advertising of less healthy products.
An impact assessment was published in 2021, along with the laying of the primary legislation, which recognised that brand advertising that did not identify less healthy products is out of the scope of the restrictions. This remains fit-for-purpose, as we are not changing the policy but providing legal clarification on the existing policy.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
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 22 May 2025 on Childhood obesity, HCWS652, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) delaying implementation of advertising restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026 on the number of additional advertisements for less healthy food that will be shown on television and (b) exempting brand advertising from the restrictions on children's health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
We have not undertaken an assessment of the impact of moving the enforcement date of the restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026, or of providing an exemption for ‘brand advertising’ from the regulations, because we are not changing the policy but instead providing legal clarification on an existing aspect of the policy. We have secured a unique and public commitment from advertisers and broadcasters to voluntarily comply with the restrictions from 1 October 2025, meaning we do not expect to see adverts for specific identifiable less healthy products shown on television between 5:30am and 9:00pm, or at any time online. Therefore, from 1 October, we expect to achieve the outcomes of the policy as planned, which will protect children from the harms of junk food advertising and begin to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets each year.
We received representation from a range of stakeholders in response to the Advertising Standards Authority's revised implementation guidance, and following my written statement of 7 April 2025. This included written correspondence from industry bodies, broadcasters, advertisers, and non-government organisations. We listened carefully to the concerns raised by all stakeholders, and we have worked with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to find a resolution that supports economic growth by ensuring that industry has the confidence to invest in advertising that complies with the restrictions, whilst protecting children from advertising of less healthy products.
An impact assessment was published in 2021, along with the laying of the primary legislation, which recognised that brand advertising that did not identify less healthy products is out of the scope of the restrictions. This remains fit-for-purpose, as we are not changing the policy but providing legal clarification on the existing policy.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what representations his Department received on the Advertising Standards Authority's guidance on the advertising of foods high in (a) fat, (b) sugar and (c) salt in (i) 2024 and (ii) 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
We have not undertaken an assessment of the impact of moving the enforcement date of the restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026, or of providing an exemption for ‘brand advertising’ from the regulations, because we are not changing the policy but instead providing legal clarification on an existing aspect of the policy. We have secured a unique and public commitment from advertisers and broadcasters to voluntarily comply with the restrictions from 1 October 2025, meaning we do not expect to see adverts for specific identifiable less healthy products shown on television between 5:30am and 9:00pm, or at any time online. Therefore, from 1 October, we expect to achieve the outcomes of the policy as planned, which will protect children from the harms of junk food advertising and begin to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets each year.
We received representation from a range of stakeholders in response to the Advertising Standards Authority's revised implementation guidance, and following my written statement of 7 April 2025. This included written correspondence from industry bodies, broadcasters, advertisers, and non-government organisations. We listened carefully to the concerns raised by all stakeholders, and we have worked with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to find a resolution that supports economic growth by ensuring that industry has the confidence to invest in advertising that complies with the restrictions, whilst protecting children from advertising of less healthy products.
An impact assessment was published in 2021, along with the laying of the primary legislation, which recognised that brand advertising that did not identify less healthy products is out of the scope of the restrictions. This remains fit-for-purpose, as we are not changing the policy but providing legal clarification on the existing policy.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
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 ensure that NT-proBNP testing is implemented in Community Diagnostic Centres.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NT-proBNP is a well-established blood test used across the National Health Service in the detection of heart failure. All standard and large model community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are required to offer blood tests via a phlebotomy service, and the majority of spoke model CDCs also offer this service.
All NHS pathology networks have laboratories that are equipped to provide results for these blood tests.
14 CDCs are also currently able to provide NT-proBNP blood tests as a point of care test (POCT), where results can be assessed on site while patients wait, allowing patients to get results on the same day. NHS England is working with CDCs to expand the number offering this test as a POCT test.
NHS England has also released guidance to increase the use of NT-proBNP tests as a triage tool for referral to echocardiography services. The guidance has been published, and is available at the following link:
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to issue guidance on ultra-processed food consumption as part of a public health strategy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We face an obesity crisis, and the Government will take action to tackle the root causes of obesity head on, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever.
We have already laid secondary legislation to restrict advertisements of less healthy food and drink to children on television and online, we are limiting school children’s access to fast food, and we are taking steps to ensure the Soft Drinks Industry Levy remains effective and fit-for-purpose. We are also commissioning research to improve the evidence on the health impacts of ultra processed foods (UPFs). Through our Plan for Change, we will shift the focus of healthcare from sickness to prevention, reducing the burden of obesity on public services and the NHS.
Scientific risk assessment and United Kingdom dietary recommendations are based on robust independent risk assessments by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). The SACN has considered the impact of processed foods on health in position statements published in 2023 and 2025. The SACN has concluded that the observed associations between higher consumption of processed foods and UPFs and adverse health outcomes are concerning.
The SACN recommended that on balance, most people are likely to benefit from reducing their consumption of processed foods high in energy, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, and which are low in fibre. This is based on the nutrient content of many UPFs and concerns raised in relation to health. The SACN will continue to keep the topic under review.
Current UK dietary recommendations, based on the SACN’s advice, already indicate that many foods classified as ultra processed such as crisps, biscuits, cakes, confectionery, and ice cream are not part of a healthy, balanced diet. They also emphasise a diet based on fruit, vegetables, and wholegrain or higher fibre starchy carbohydrates, with less red and processed meat, and with less foods high in saturated fat, salt, and free sugars.
The SACN’s recommendation aligns with our existing policies for supporting healthier diets and our advice to consumers. Further action on obesity under the Government’s Health Mission will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research his Department has commissioned on the health impacts of ultra-processed food; and when he expects findings to be published.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR launched a research call in July 2024 on the health and health inequality impacts of interventions that effect consumption of ultra processed foods, for which a funding decision will be made later this year. Findings from NIHR studies are made publicly available when the research has completed.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the merits of removing references to minimally processed and nutritious food from the HFSS promotions guidance on 1 June 2023.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to tackling the childhood obesity crisis and to raising the healthiest generation of children ever.
The Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 were laid during the previous Parliament. The regulations provide for restrictions on the promotion and placement in retail stores and their online equivalents of certain foods and drinks that are high in fat, salt, or sugar, or which are ‘less healthy’.
In 2023, the implementation guidance accompanying these regulations was updated to provide some additional points of clarification, which included removing a reference to the term “minimally processed and nutritious food”. This was done to ensure the guidance remained in-line with the legislation, which does not reference minimally processed food. The legislation itself was not changed and still restricts the promotion of less healthy foods that contribute to childhood obesity. Therefore, no assessment was made of the merits of removing references to “minimally processed and nutritious food” from this document.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS 10-Year Plan will include specific measures to provide health and care staff with full access to integrated patient records.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have committed to develop a 10 Year Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future. While it is too soon to say exactly what will be in the plan, it will set out how we shift health and care systems in England from analogue to digital systems. Subject to Parliamentary approval, new laws are set to be introduced to make NHS patient health records available across all NHS trusts, general practice surgeries, and ambulance services in England, speeding up patient care, reducing repeat medical tests, and minimising medication errors.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to encourage the adoption of (a) AI and (b) other digital technologies to support the healthcare transition from treatment to prevention.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service is already home to world-first digital innovation, with NHS England supporting the rollout of key products, many of which support the shift to prevention and early diagnosis. Examples include the world's first certified autonomous artificially intelligent (AI) diagnostic tool, which can triage patients with suspected skin cancer, as well as digital innovations supporting people struggling with mental health and musculoskeletal issues to gain or remain in employment.
NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and the Department are developing a rules based pathway (RBP) for medical technology in the NHS. The RBP aims to create a clear, consistent, and efficient process for evaluating and adopting medical technologies, including digital technologies, in the NHS.
The Early Detection using Information Technology in Health, or EDITH trial, announced in February 2025, is backed by £11 million of Government support via the National Institute for Health and Care Research. It is the latest example of how British scientists are transforming cancer care, building on the promising potential of cutting-edge innovations to tackle one of the United Kingdom’s biggest killers.
Between October 2021 and May 2023 funding was invested in a risk-stratification tool to identify women who are at most risk of developing life-threatening and life-altering complications of pre-eclampsia.
Between October 2020 and September 2023, the Department invested £1.9 million in an AI stroke technology, capable of automatically processing acute stroke computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging scans, which can provide real-time, clinically useful information in the acute stroke setting, leading to faster decisions.
Between October 2020 and September 2021 funding was invested towards generating a toolkit prototype which can automatically generate placental metrics from a 3D-US scan. These can be combined with other known risk factors and blood results to generate a multi-factorial screening test for fetal growth restriction, which is the single most common cause of stillbirth.
The deployment of AI in the NHS is still at a relatively early stage, with many AI tools being used in a research capacity. To address this, the Department is carrying out work, with NHS England, to assess the barriers of safe, ethical, and effective adoption, and improve the way AI tools are deployed and used in the NHS across England.