Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to review the sugar content of powdered milk based drinks and include those products within the scope of the soft drinks industry levy.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced her intention to review the Soft Drinks Industry levy (SDIL) to drive further product reformulation, whilst maintaining the fundamental design of the levy as a tax on pre-packaged soft drinks with added sugar.

Following this review, between April and July 2025 the government consulted on proposed reforms to the SDIL. The outcomes of this consultation were confirmed at Budget 2025.

As part of the consultation, the government considered responses on dissolvable powders. It also considered the significant redesign of the levy necessary to include them as beyond the remit of the SDIL review, as set out by the Chancellor at Autumn Budget 2024.

More information on the outcome of the Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy consultation can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/strengthening-the-soft-drinks-industry-levy/outcome/strengthening-the-soft-drinks-industry-levy-summary-of-responses

The government will not make any further changes to the design of the SDIL.