Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Droitwich and Evesham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential financial implications for the dairy and yoghurt manufacturing industry of redesigning labels and packaging as a result of yoghurt and other dairy-based products being classified as high in fat, sugar, or salt under the revised Nutrient Profiling Model.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future, we will take decisive action on the obesity crisis, easing the strain on our National Heath Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever.
As part of this, we are committed to updating the standards which underpin the advertising restrictions on television and online and the promotions restrictions in stores and their equivalent places online on ‘less healthy’ food and drink products. The Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) 2004/05 is plainly out of date and updating the standards will strengthen the restrictions by reflecting the latest dietary advice and will more effectively target the products of most concern to childhood obesity.
Applying the new NPM to our advertising and promotions policies will further incentivise businesses to reformulate their products, making it easier for consumers to make healthier food choices.
We have published guidance to industry on how to determine which food and drink products will be in scope of the advertising and promotions restrictions. Products are classified as ‘less healthy’ for the purpose of the restrictions if they achieve a score within the thresholds of the NPM and fall into one of the categories of food and drink products which are of most concern to childhood obesity, which are set out in the regulations.
We will publish a consultation this year to seek stakeholder views on applying the new NPM to the advertising and promotions restrictions on less healthy food and drink products, including an impact assessment of the costs to businesses and intended health outcomes. We set out in the 10-Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future that applying the new NPM to these policies is expected to reduce a further 170,000 cases of childhood obesity.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Droitwich and Evesham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential financial implications for the dairy and yoghurt manufacturing industry of reformulating products if the revised Nutrient Profiling Model results in yoghurt and other dairy-based products being classified as high in fat, sugar, or salt.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future, we will take decisive action on the obesity crisis, easing the strain on our National Heath Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever.
As part of this, we are committed to updating the standards which underpin the advertising restrictions on television and online and the promotions restrictions in stores and their equivalent places online on ‘less healthy’ food and drink products. The Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) 2004/05 is plainly out of date and updating the standards will strengthen the restrictions by reflecting the latest dietary advice and will more effectively target the products of most concern to childhood obesity.
Applying the new NPM to our advertising and promotions policies will further incentivise businesses to reformulate their products, making it easier for consumers to make healthier food choices.
We have published guidance to industry on how to determine which food and drink products will be in scope of the advertising and promotions restrictions. Products are classified as ‘less healthy’ for the purpose of the restrictions if they achieve a score within the thresholds of the NPM and fall into one of the categories of food and drink products which are of most concern to childhood obesity, which are set out in the regulations.
We will publish a consultation this year to seek stakeholder views on applying the new NPM to the advertising and promotions restrictions on less healthy food and drink products, including an impact assessment of the costs to businesses and intended health outcomes. We set out in the 10-Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future that applying the new NPM to these policies is expected to reduce a further 170,000 cases of childhood obesity.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the supermarket industry on tackling food waste in supermarkets.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra funds the groundbreaking UK Food and Drink Pact, a voluntary agreement with industry to tackle food waste in supply chains. The Pact has developed the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, which helps businesses to identify and measure their surplus and waste and take steps to reduce it. Through the Pact, we have regular engagement with food businesses, including supermarkets, to better understand and overcome the barriers to tackling food waste.
Defra also supports retailers and food businesses to play a key role in making sure their products help consumers to waste less food at home. This includes through appropriate storage advice, packaging design, and how food is labelled.
Asked by: Harriet Cross (Conservative - Gordon and Buchan)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on future trade agreements.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Following the UK-EU Summit, we have started negotiations on a food and drink agreement, linking our Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS) and we have concluded exploratory talks on an electricity agreement. While the Government is focused on delivering these negotiations, future summits will provide us with opportunities to strengthen our relationship further.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 help reduce instances of type 2 diabetes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to tackling preventable ill health, such as type 2 diabetes, head-on and at the earliest opportunity. Excess weight and obesity are key risk factors for type 2 diabetes and we are taking decisive action on the obesity crisis, easing the strain on the National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever.
We have delivered on our commitment to restrict junk food advertising on television and online and are delivering a ban on the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under 16 year olds. We are limiting volume price promotions such as “buy one get one free” on less healthy food and drink and have put in place a nationally standardised Behavioural Support for Obesity Prescribing service to ensure weight loss medicines are delivered safely and effectively. We will also double the number of patients able to access the NHS Digital Weight Management programme.
In addition, we continue to support the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP), which has offered support to over 2.4 million people who are at risk of type 2 diabetes since its establishment in 2016. The NHS DPP is highly effective and has been found to reduce attendee’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 37% compared to those who did not attend.
We continue to deliver the NHS Health Check, a core component of England’s cardiovascular disease prevention programme, which aims to detect those at risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and kidney disease aged between 40 and 74 years old.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Droitwich and Evesham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with Dairy UK and other trade bodies on the potential impact of the revised Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) for the dairy supply chain.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future, we will take decisive action on the obesity crisis, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever.
As part of this, we are committed to updating the standards which underpin the advertising restrictions on television and online and the promotion restrictions in stores and their equivalent places online on ‘less healthy’ food and drink products. The Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) 2004/05 is plainly out of date and updating the standards will strengthen the restrictions by reflecting the latest dietary advice and more effectively target the products of most concern to childhood obesity.
The Government has met with a range of stakeholders over the past year to listen to their concerns, and officials met with Dairy UK in August 2025.
The Government remains committed to engaging relevant stakeholders and we will consult this year on the application of an updated NPM’s to the advertising and promotion restrictions to ensure they can feed in their views.
Asked by: Lord Booth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of the mandatory targets proposed under the healthy food standard on population salt intake.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will take decisive action on the obesity crisis, easing strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever. The Plan committed to introducing mandatory healthy food sales reporting for all large businesses in the food sector before the end of this Parliament and targets to increase the healthiness of sales in all communities, in line with United Kingdom dietary guidelines. This will set full transparency and accountability around the food and drink that businesses are selling and to encourage healthier products.
The policy is expected to cover foods that are high in salt and we expect businesses to consider salt reduction as part of actions to increase the healthiness of their sales.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to promote the use of locally produced food and drink.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The food strategy recognises the key role that regional and local food systems can play in supporting delivery of the growth, health, sustainability, and food security/ resilience outcomes. Defra wants to create an environment that champions UK food cultures and celebrates British food. The strategy is an opportunity to celebrate the food we make which is uniquely British, combining our heritage and the expertise and innovation of our food businesses.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Droitwich and Evesham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on jobs and employment on changes in regulation in the dairy sector, including through the proposed revisions to the Nutrient Profiling Model, the Soft Drinks Industry Levy proposed inclusion of dairy products, the increase to employer’s National Insurance contributions, and packaging taxes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) and National Insurance contributions are the responsibility of HM Treasury and packaging taxes fall under the remit of the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs.
The Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) is under the remit of the Department of Health and Social Care. We are committed to updating the standards which underpin the advertising restrictions on television and online and the promotion restrictions in stores and their equivalent places online on ‘less healthy’ food and drink products. The NPM 2004/05 is plainly out of date and updating the standards will strengthen the restrictions by reflecting the latest dietary advice and more effectively target the products of most concern to childhood obesity. An impact assessment will be published alongside a consultation later this year.
It was announced at Budget 2025 that milk based and milk substitute drinks, for instance soya, almond, and/or oat, would be included in the scope of the SDIL from 1 January 2028. These reforms are not expected to have any significant macroeconomic impacts, including on employment, on the basis that the levy is limited to soft drinks, and an estimated 11% of United Kingdom soft drink sales will be affected. A full assessment of the impacts of these changes is included within the Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy – Summary of Responses document. This is available at the following link:
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the bill, containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts. The Government protected the smallest hospitality businesses from recent changes to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500.
The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs published the updated impact assessment of the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility scheme in October 2024, which evaluated the overall effects on packaging producers, without disaggregating by sector.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his Department’s priorities are for the next phase of negotiations on a food and drink agreement and carbon market linkage with the EU, as referenced in HCWS1114 on 1 December 2025; and what impact he expects these to have on UK consumers and businesses.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
We are currently negotiating a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement and an agreement to link our Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS) and will not give a running commentary on the talks. The SPS agreement will cut costs and red tape for British producers and retailers, reducing consumer prices and increasing choice. ETS linking is expected to facilitate a cheaper path to net zero, reducing long-term costs for businesses. Combined, these measures are set to add nearly £9 billion a year to the UK economy by 2040.