Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on (a) businesses and (b) employment of the proposed advertising restrictions on products high in fat, sugar and salt.

The Prime Minister has made it clear that tackling obesity is a priority for this Government. In July 2020 the Government outlined it’s Tackling Obesity strategy which details a host of measures aimed at empowering people to live the healthier lives they want to live.

The Government proposed various options for restricting HFSS advertising in the 2019 and 2020 consultations targeted at protecting children from being exposed to advertising of unhealthy food products.

Balanced against the priority of protecting children and tackling obesity, we have carefully considered the impact that any restrictions will have on industry and in particular the potential for market distortion or disproportionate effects on key business sectors.

The final policy will be set out in our consultation response due to be published shortly. This will be accompanied by a final impact assessment. We will support businesses, individuals and organisations to prepare for changes to the rules around HFSS advertising.