All I would say—without in any way implying any criticism of right hon. or hon. Members—is that soon after I entered the House I was a member of the Procedure Committee for a year, and one of the first pieces of advice I was given was to read the legislation and go through it in its entirety. I recognise that this is a long and complex piece of legislation, but I would make that point.
Telecommunications and internet services are reserved matters. The UK Government are clear about the fact that the primary purpose of provisions on the advertising of less-healthy food and drink for TV and internet services is to regulate content on reserved media, and on that basis the policy is reserved. The purpose is not incidental. Therefore, the provisions do not fall within the competence of the devolved legislatures or engage the legislative consent process. While the Scottish and Welsh Governments have agreed with our policy ambitions, they disagree with our legal assessment, and thus far we have had to agree to disagree on this matter, but we have
had extensive engagement, and I suspect that we will continue to do so. I see that the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire is in her place, and while she is present I would like to thank both Governments for their engagement and offer my assurances that it will continue as we implement the policy for the benefit of citizens across the UK.
6.30 pm
I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire for his amendments 6 to 8, which would require the Secretary of State to conduct a public consultation before any changes could be made to the relevant guidance, the nutrient profiling model, in which I know the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Justin Madders), takes a particular interest. The principle and importance of the amendments is recognised, but we fear that, as drafted, they may create a number of unintended consequences. When consultation exercises need to reach a diverse audience, several approaches may be appropriate. For example, words such as “public” may be interpreted in a number of ways in different contexts, and would risk rendering the legislation insufficiently clear. However, as I confirmed in Committee, the Government have now tabled their own amendments to ensure that a requirement for the Secretary of State to consult before making any changes to the relevant guidance appears in the Bill.
Let me now turn to amendments 31, 33, 34, 36, 38 and 39, tabled in the name of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. These new amendments to schedule 16 will insert a requirement for the Secretary of State to consult persons whom he or she considers relevant before any changes can be made to the use of the technical guidance known as the nutrient profile model. This applies to the restrictions on less-healthy food and drink advertising outlined in the Communications Act 2003. An amendment has been made to each of the TV, on-demand programming services and online sections, ensuring that all parts of the policy are covered by this new duty to consult before changing the NPM.
The less-healthy food and drink advertising restrictions outlined in schedule 16 use a two-step approach to determine whether a product is “less healthy” and therefore within the scope of the policy. First the products need to fall into one of the categories identified as significant contributors to childhood obesity; then the product needs to be classed as “less healthy” in accordance with the relevant guidance. That guidance is the Nutrient Profiling Technical Guidance of January 2011, which sets out the requirements of the existing nutrient profiling model of 2004-05. The Secretary of State has the power to make regulations to change the meaning of “the relevant guidance” in the future, for example if the guidance needs to be materially modified to reflect changes in nutritional advice on what constitutes “more” or “less” healthy or an alternative model is developed.
This power is subject to the affirmative procedure, ensuring that there will be clear parliamentary scrutiny at the point at which any changes are brought forward.
Although, as Members may know, over the past few years work has been under way to update the NPM in line with updated dietary recommendations, it is not our current intention to apply it to the less-healthy food and drink advertising restrictions policy that the House
is now debating. We made it clear throughout the 2019 and 2020 consultations that if we wanted to use the updated NPM in the future, we would first need to consult and invite views from interested stakeholders.
I appreciate the concerns that Members have raised, and would like to reassure them, the House and, indeed, industry. These technical amendments will not change the policy intent of the original provisions. I hope that they will address the valid concerns that my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire has understandably raised today, and I hope that he and colleagues across the House will be able to support them in place of his amendments.