£520m ‘sugar tax' set to fund child health initiatives

Delivering the 2016 Budget in the House of Commons today, Osborne said a sugar levy worth an estimated £520m a year will be levied on the soft drinks industry as part of efforts to combat child obesity.

“You cannot have a long-term plan for the country unless you have a long-term plan for our children’s healthcare,” Osborne said.

“Five-year-old children are consuming their body weight in sugar every year. Experts predict that within a generation over half of all boys, and 70 per cent of girls could be overweight or obese.”

Osborne said a can of cola typically has nine teaspoons of sugar in it, with some popular drinks having as many as 13.

Under Osborne’s plans, soft drinks companies will pay a levy on drinks with added sugar from April 2018. Milk-based drinks and fruit juices will be excluded from the levy.

Osborne said the money raised from the levy will be used to double the primary school PE and sport premium from £160m a year to £320m a year from September 2017 to “help schools support healthier, more active lifestyles”.

Meanwhile 25 per cent of secondary schools will be able to opt in to a longer school day from September 2017 so that they can offer a wider range of activities for pupils. The government will provide up to £285m a year to pay for this.

“[Longer school hours] will be voluntary for schools. Compulsory for the pupils,” Osborne said.

A further £10m a year has been set aside to expand breakfast clubs in up to 1,600 schools starting from September 2017.

Denise Hatton, chief executive of YMCA England, said the levy will go some way to combatting the levels of sugar consumed by young people, but will not work on its own.
 
“If the chancellor wants to ensure that not just the country but our young people are ‘fit for the future’ we need to see a commitment to protect and enhance community sport initiatives that engage young people in physical activities," she said.
 
“The funding for school sport is welcome but the focus must also be on activities within communities, especially those in areas of high deprivation.”

Commenting on social networking site Instagram, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who has lobbied for a sugar tax, described Osborne’s announcement as a “profound move that will ripple around the world”.