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 children and families in areas with high levels of childhood excess weight, including Wolverhampton North East, have access to appropriate nutrition and dietetic support through neighbourhood health services.

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever, which includes taking decisive action on the obesity crisis.

Local authorities and National Health Service integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to support children, families, and others living with overweight and obesity, based on local decision making and priorities. In line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, these services should include nutritional support to improve diet, eating patterns and behaviours, and may include dietetic support where appropriate. This applies to services delivered through neighbourhood health models, including neighbourhood health centres, where these are part of local provision.

Core funding for local authorities’ public health responsibilities is provided through the ring-fenced Public Health Grant (PHG) which funds a range of preventative and treatment health services, including obesity programmes. The PHG allocation is weighted heavily towards deprivation. On average, the most deprived areas receive over twice the funding per capita as the least deprived. Wolverhampton’s consolidated PHG for 2026/27 is £28,621,803 (est. £28.6 million).