Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an estimate of how much money would be generated annually were the soft drinks levy to be extended to milk-based drinks; and if he will make a statement.

As set out in Phase 2 of the Childhood Obesity Strategy, HMT will review the Soft Drinks Industry Levy exemption for milk-based drinks in 2020. At this stage, we have not made an assessment of the revenue that would be generated.

The Levy is designed to tackle childhood obesity by incentivising producers and importers to reduce the amount of added-sugar in the drinks they sell. So far, over half of all drinks that would otherwise have been in-scope have reduced their sugar content before the introduction of the levy, meaning expected revenues have reduced from over £500m pa to £240m pa.