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, whether the output of TV channels not viewed as live broadcast TV will count as (a) TV and (b) online.

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.

Advertising restrictions for less healthy food or drink will be determined by whether a television channel or video-on-demand service is regulated by Ofcom. All Ofcom-regulated services, whether broadcast or delivered over the internet, will be subject to a 9:00pm watershed. All other internet-delivered television services will be subject to the 24-hour restriction.

We announced in a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 22 May that the Government will set out in legislation an explicit brand exemption from the advertising restrictions for brand advertising that does not identify a less healthy food or drink product. This will provide legal clarification on this aspect of the existing policy as it was understood and agreed by Parliament during the passage of the Health and Care Bill, following extensive consultation.