Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the number of non-recyclable disposable coffee cups being disposed of in a recycling bin.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To increase the recycling of recyclable, fibre-based composite cups, the Government plans to introduce mandatory cup takeback and recycling obligations in 2025. Consumers will be able to use a dedicated cups recycling bin at any obligated premises.
Additionally, as part of the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging Regulations, we are introducing a single, UK-wide approach to packaging labelling. Producers of packaging, including coffee cups, will be required to label primary and shipment packaging as either Recycle or Do Not Recycle. This will provide consumers with clear and consistent information on what packaging they can and cannot recycle.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing the compulsory labelling of products to indicate whether they were British-made or imported.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Aside from certain specified products such as food there is no requirement for goods to be labelled with their country of origin. The Government does not have plans to introduce such a requirement on behalf of consumers.
Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, traders are banned from using misleading statements about the geographical or commercial origin of products including in response to requests for information by consumers.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to tackle obesity in people under 25 years old.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are delivering an ambitious programme of work to create a healthier environment to help people achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
Regulations on out of home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafes, and takeaways, came into force in April 2022. Restrictions on the placement of products high in fat, sugar or salt in key selling locations, came into force on 1 October 2022. We will be implementing restrictions on the sale of less healthy products by volume price such as ‘buy one get one free’ or ‘3 for 2’ and will introduce restrictions on the advertising of less healthy products before 9pm on TV and paid for less healthy product advertising online from 1 October 2025.
We are working with the food industry to ensure it is easier for the public to make healthier choices and make further progress on reformulation. In addition, the Food Data Transparency Partnership will help enable and encourage food companies to voluntarily demonstrate progress on the healthiness of their sales.
We are also supporting more than three million children through the Healthy Foods Schemes and helping schools boost physical activity to help children maintain a healthy weight and good overall health through the Primary School PE and Sport Premium and the School Games Organiser Network. In addition, local authorities and the National Health Service provide weight management services to support their communities to achieve and maintain a healthier weight.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent the occurrence of cancers in women linked to obesity.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Obesity is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer, and the government is taking steps to tackle obesity and help prevent the occurrence of cancers linked to this, including in women. New regulations on out-of-home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses including restaurants, cafes and takeaways and Regulations restricting the placement of less healthy products in key selling locations in store and online came into force in 2022. We are also working with the food industry to ensure it is easier for the public to make healthier choices and make further progress on reformulation. On 7 June 2023, as part of action to treat those who are already living with obesity, the Government announced plans for a two-year pilot backed by up to £40 million to look at ways of expanding access to new weight loss drugs outside of a hospital setting.
Furthermore, increasing the early diagnosis rates of cancers is a priority for this government. Several organisations, including the Department, are taking steps across England to increase diagnosis rates including setting stretching ambitions, supporting general practitioners (GPs) in referring patients, expanding diagnostic capacity, and enabling more precise diagnosis through technology.
Backed by £2.3 billion of capital funding, the department is expanding diagnostic capacity across the National Health Service by rolling out more community diagnostic centres (CDCs), delivering vital tests, scans, and checks. With 136 CDCs open already and up to 160 set to open by March 2025, these offer millions of patients the chance to access quicker, more convenient checks outside of hospitals, with capacity prioritised for cancer. This is contributing to the elective recovery delivery plan ambition for 75% of patients urgently referred by their GP for suspected cancer to receive a diagnosis or have cancer ruled out within 28 days.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 implications for his policies of childhood obesity levels in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London; and what steps his Department is taking to tackle childhood obesity in each of those areas.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) collects data on children aged four to five years old (Reception) and 10 to 11 years old (Year 6). The following table shows data from the NCMP on the percentage of children living with obesity in Reception and Year 6 in the academic year 2022-23. Data is not available at Parliamentary constituency level but is available at local authority and regional levels:
Area | Reception (%) | Year 6 (%) |
Enfield | 10.8 | 28.0 |
London | 9.3 | 24.8 |
Local authorities and the National Health Service provide weight management services to support children and families to achieve and maintain a healthier weight. Local authorities can fund behavioural weight management services from their Public Health Grant.
In England, new regulations on out-of-home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafes, and takeaways, came into force in April 2022. Restrictions on the placement of less healthy products in key selling locations in store and online came into force in October 2022. The location restrictions are the single most impactful obesity policy in reducing children’s calorie consumption and are expected to accrue health benefits of over £57 billion and provide savings to the NHS of over £4 billion over the next 25 years.
We are also working with the food industry to make further progress on reformulation and ensure it is easier for the public to make healthier choices. We have seen important successes including the average sugar content of drinks subject to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy decreasing by 46% between 2015 and 2020. There has also been success in some categories of the sugar reduction programme, including a 14.9% reduction of sugar in retailer- and manufacturer-branded breakfast cereals and a 13.5% reduction in yogurts and fromage frais.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to enable manufacturers of plant-based milks to label them as plant-based milks rather than plant-based drinks.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Existing law regulates the labelling of milk and milk products and plant-based alternatives. The Government has no plans to bring forward legislation in this area.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce childhood obesity.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Regulations on out of home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafes, and takeaways, came into force in April 2022. Restrictions on the placement of products high in fat, sugar or salt in key selling locations, came into force on 1 October 2022. We will be implementing restrictions on the sale of less healthy products by volume price such as ‘buy one get one free’ or ‘3 for 2’ and will introduce restrictions on the advertising of less healthy products before 9pm on TV and paid for less healthy product advertising online. We are also working with the food industry to ensure it is easier for the public to make healthier choices and make further progress on reformulation.
In addition, we are supporting more than three million children through the Healthy Foods Schemes and helping schools boost physical activity to help children maintain a healthy weight and good overall health through the Primary School PE and Sport Premium and the School Games Organiser Network.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following a survey by the School and Public Health Nurses Association and the British Dental Association in June which showed that 65 per cent of health practitioners reported that children’s health had got worse over the last year as a result of hunger, what plans they have to address hunger and poor nutrition in children.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government understands concerns regarding food inflation and its impact on the current cost of living, and as such is providing support of over £94 billion over 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 13.6% in the year to August 2023. This was down from 14.9% in July and a recent high of 19.2% in March 2023, which was the highest rate seen for over 45 years. This means that food prices are still increasing but at a slower rate than before.
Through the Healthy Food Schemes, the Government provides a nutritional safety net to those who need it the most. The three Healthy Food Schemes, namely Healthy Start, Nursery Milk and the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, together help more than three million children. They support wider Government priorities on obesity and levelling up. The schemes help to support children and babies when they are at home, in childcare and in early years at school, and pregnant women. From April 2021, the value of the Healthy Start increased from £3.10 to £4.25, providing additional support to pregnant women and families on lower incomes to make healthy food choices.
The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme provides approximately 2.2 million children in Key Stage 1 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables each day at school. Around 419 million pieces of fruit and vegetables were distributed to children in 2022/2023. In addition, the Nursery Milk Scheme provides a reimbursement to childcare providers for a daily 1/3 pint portion of milk to children and babies.
Free school meals are provided to over one third of school children. This includes two million pupils who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals, making up 23.8% of all pupils, which is an increase from January 2021 when 1.7 million or 20.8% pupils were eligible. In addition, almost 1.3 million more infants enjoy a free and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of universal infant free school meals in 2014. A further 90,000 disadvantaged pupils in further education also receive a free meal at lunch time. Overall, we spend over £1 billion per annum delivering free lunches to a large proportion of school children.
The Government’s wider programme of work to create a healthier environment to help people achieve and maintain a healthy weight includes:
- regulations which restrict the placement of products high in saturated fat, salt or sugar in store and online;
- efforts to reformulate products high in calories, sugar and salt;
- the Soft Drinks Industry Levy; and
- calorie labelling regulations for food sold in large out of home businesses.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve animal welfare transparency on labelling of food products.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra ran a Call for Evidence in 2021 to gather data on the impacts of different types of animal welfare labelling reforms. Based on the information gathered, we will continue to work with stakeholders to explore how we can harness the market to improve food information for consumers. We will continue to gather evidence on the impacts of a wide range of market interventions, as well as how they could align with wider labelling proposals such as eco-labelling.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring halal meat to be labelled with a declaration as to whether it comes from animals that are stunned before slaughter.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2021, Defra ran a call for evidence to gather data on the potential impacts of different types of labelling reform for animal welfare, including considerations around method of slaughter. We received over 1,600 responses and a summary of these responses is available on GOV.UK. Based on the information gathered, we will continue to work with stakeholders to explore how we can harness the market to improve food information for consumers.