Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to encourage people to include fruit and vegetables in their diets using (a) subsidisation and (b) other new methods.

The Government actively promotes a healthy diet through the Change 4 Life campaign, One You campaign, the 5-a-day campaign and the Eatwell Guide.

The Department is committed to ensuring a healthy diet for children. The Healthy Food Schemes, which include the Healthy Start scheme and the School Fruit and Vegetable scheme, have been designed to help achieve this.

The School Fruit and Vegetable scheme gives children in Key Stage 1 who attend participating, fully state-funded schools, a portion of fruit or vegetable every day.

The Healthy Start scheme is a targeted scheme which allows for pregnant women and children aged over one and under four from lower income families to receive one £3.10 voucher every week. Children aged under one receive two vouchers, worth £6.20 in total, every week. These vouchers can be used to buy, or be put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, milk and infant formula. The Government re-affirmed its commitment to Healthy Start in the Childhood Obesity Plan, published in August 2016.