Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)
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 merits of (a) public health measures to raise awareness of the potential risks of ultra-processed foods, (b) introducing measurable reduction targets for consumption of ultra-processed foods and (c) ensuring that ultra-processed foods do not appear as good choices on the NHS Food Scanner app.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government encourages everyone to have a healthy balanced diet in line with the United Kingdom’s healthy eating model, the Eatwell Guide, which shows that foods high in saturated fat, salt or sugar should be eaten less often or in small amounts.
United Kingdom Government dietary guidelines are based on recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). SACN is currently carrying out a scoping review of the evidence on processed foods and health and aims to publish its initial assessment in the summer of 2023.
There is currently no universally agreed definition of ultra-processed foods. However, a diet high in foods classified as processed is often high in calories, salt, saturated fat and sugar and low in fibre, fruit and vegetables, which is associated with an increased risk of obesity and developing chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes and some cancers.
The Good Choice badge helps people identify healthier options using the NHS Food Scanner app and when shopping in store and online. The app and wider Better Health tools supports families on their journey towards having a healthier diet, as making the step to the healthiest option may be too far for many people in one move.
Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what secondments (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte & Touche, (c) Ernst & Young and (d) KPMG has made to the Department including predecessor Departments since 2010; for what (i) periods and (ii) tasks the secondments were made; whether secondments of staff from the Department have been made to those firms; and for what (A) periods and (B) tasks.
Answered by Will Quince
This information is not held centrally in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) nature and (b) value was of all contracts, consultancies or other services placed with the accountancy firms (i) Deloitte & Touche, (ii) Ernst & Young, (iii) KPMG and (iv) PricewaterhouseCoopers in each year since 2010-11 by her Department.
Answered by Will Quince
Details for all Government contracts above £10,000 post 2016 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search
Information on the value and nature of individual contracts pre 2016 is on archived database systems and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Historic expenditure above £25,000 against individual suppliers since 2010 is available on GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/spending-over-25-000--2#2010-to-2018
Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has for the care of children of NHS workers and Public Health England workers if they are (a) incapacitated due to illness and (b) hospitalised.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The NHS England has recently published in-depth guidance covering a range of scenarios for National Health Service and Public Health England workers, which will be updated as the situation develops, which can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/
NHS England has written to all colleagues recently and a copy of the letter is available at the following link:
Support for NHS and PHE workers is a high priority for the Government, and it will continually assess the measures required to support them fully.