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 (a) reduce the prevalence of food deserts in deprived areas, (b) improve access to affordable, healthy food and (c) address the affordability gap between healthy and unhealthy options.

Within six months of taking office, the Government has begun action to improve the food environment and ensure that healthier food is available, affordable, and accessible for all, irrespective of where you live.

This includes publishing the revised National Planning Policy Framework for local government, giving local authorities the stronger, clearer powers they have told us they need to block new fast-food outlets near schools and where young people congregate. We have also met our commitment to lay the secondary legislation to restrict junk food advertising to children.

Furthermore, the Government has committed to the roll out of free breakfast clubs at all primary schools, and we already have schemes to support those on low incomes such as Healthy Start, reaching over 354,000 vulnerable people.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to develop a Child Poverty Strategy, which will be published in spring, exploring all available levers to drive forward actions across Government to reduce child poverty.

The Department of Health and Social Care will also work in close collaboration on the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs led cross-Government food strategy, which will outline actions to support the food system to provide more easily accessible, healthy food to tackle obesity, helping to give children the best start in life and helping adults to live longer, healthier lives.