Home / Sources / Select Committees / Government Response to Health Committee's Seventh Report of…
Select committee: Health and Social Care Committee

Government Response to Health Committee's Seventh Report of Session 2016-17 on Childhood Obesity: follow-up, January 2018

Published 12 January 2018

Health and Social Care Committee Childhood obesity: follow-up Report on parliament.uk ↗

At a glance

The government's response

This document responds to 7th Report - Childhood obesity: follow-up.

This is the government's response, published 12 January 2018.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government welcomes the Committee's follow-up report and states that its childhood obesity plan marks "an important step forward" but "is not the final word", while addressing the specific recommendations on the levy, reformulation, planning and monitoring.

  • On the soft drinks industry levy, the Government says soft drinks prices are a matter for producers and retailers, and that it is "not for the Government to attempt to dictate" how a tax should affect market prices.
  • On milk-based drinks, those with more than 75% milk remain excluded from the levy but will be included in PHE's sugar reduction programme. HM Treasury "will review the exclusion for milk drinks in 2020".
  • On reformulation, the Government states it "is considering a range of other available levers" that could be used if the voluntary programme "does not match our expectations". PHE will publish detailed progress reviews in March 2018, March 2019 and March 2020.
  • On planning, the Government says the Department for Communities and Local Government "will consider (with PHE) whether any aspects could usefully be strengthened in relation to public health" when revising the National Planning Policy Framework.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

Sources