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 impact of innovation in the beer and pub sector with the (a) development and (b) availability of (i) no and (ii) low alcohol products on the aims of the NHS 10 Year Plan.

In Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England, the Government has committed to tackling harmful levels of alcohol consumption through exploring options to standardise which products can describe themselves as alcohol free. One of the first steps will be to explore raising the upper alcohol limit for drinks labelled as alcohol-free to 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) from 0.05% ABV, aligning with international standards. At the same time, we will explore measures to regulate access to no- and low-alcohol (NoLo) products in line with other alcoholic beverages, including prohibiting sales to individuals under the age of 18 years old.

Alongside the plan, a large multi-year National Institute for Health and Care Research study is underway to examine the public health impacts of NoLo products, and we look forward to the findings the study being available in the coming year.