Minister for Public Health (): I wish to update the House
on the Government's progress to deliver our Manifesto commitment
to implement restrictions on junk food advertising on TV and
online.
The country wants to see our broken NHS fixed. Our Health Mission
makes clear that this requires a prevention revolution, tackling
the drivers of preventable illness and reducing demand on health
services. One of these pressures is the childhood obesity crisis,
setting up children for an unhealthy life and generating yet
greater pressures on the NHS. More than one in five children in
England are overweight or living with obesity by the time they
start primary school, and this rises to more than one third by
the time they leave. We want to tackle the problem head on and
that includes implementing the restrictions on junk food
advertising on TV and online without further delay. We will
introduce a 9pm watershed on TV advertising, and a total ban on
paid-for online advertising. These restrictions will help protect
children from being exposed to advertising of less healthy food
and drinks, which evidence shows influences their dietary
preferences from a young age.
I am today confirming that we have published the Government's
response to the 2022 consultation on the draft secondary
legislation. This is a key milestone which confirms the
definitions for the products, businesses and services in scope of
the restrictions. This provides the clarity that businesses have
been calling for and will support them to prepare for the
restrictions coming into force across the UK on 1 October 2025.
As part of our response, we will clarify how the regulations will
apply to Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) which delivers
television live over the internet. Our proposal is to make clear
in the regulations that IPTV services regulated by Ofcom will be
subject to the broadcast 9pm watershed in the same way as other
TV and Ofcom-regulated on-demand programme services. This
requires clarification within the secondary legislation and, in
line with our statutory duty to consult, we are launching a
targeted consultation which is open for four weeks from today.
These steps mean we can move forward to laying the final
legislation and publishing guidance. I will provide a further
update to the House when the secondary legislation is laid to
implement the advertising restrictions on 1 October 2025.
The Government's response to the 2022 consultation and the IPTV
consultation have been published on GOV.UK.
