Labour pledges more fruit and vegetables for children alongside new Wellbeing Act

Labour pledges more fruit and vegetables for children alongside new Wellbeing Act

The Labour Party is today pledging to provide more fresh fruit and
vegetables to poorer children as it announces plans for a Future
Generations Wellbeing Act for England as part of a commitment to tackle
widening health inequalities.

New figures released by the party today show that the number of women
and children eligible to receive government ‘Healthy Start’ vouchers
for healthy food and vitamins has fallen by 20 per cent in four years.
Simultaneously, since 2012/13, funding for healthy start welfare food
payments has been slashed by £36.6 million – just over a quarter.

Healthy Start vouchers are crucial in helping children from lower
income families – who are at greater risk of obesity – get their
five-a-day of fruit and vegetables. One in five children are obese or
overweight by the time they start primary school, rising to one in three
by the time they leave.

Speaking at the Fabian Society’s Summer Conference, Jonathan
Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary will today
commit £26.8 million to the ‘Healthy Start’ programme to help provide
children in the most deprived areas of the country with fresh fruit and
vegetables.

That is the equivalent of an extra 42.4 million pints of milk, plus
33 million apples, 6.5 million kg of carrots and 4.3 million kg of peas
for the very poorest children.

The measure is the latest announcement as part of Labour’s strategy
to improve health and wellbeing alongside a commitment in government to a
new “Future Generation’s Wellbeing Act” for England. Following the lead
of Welsh Labour, who implemented a Wellbeing Act, Labour envisages the
Act will place duties on health services, public bodies in England and
government to take account of population health and wellbeing, now and
in the future, when making their decisions.

Labour will consult on the act which will:

• Enshrine a ‘health in all policies’ approach ensuring a ‘health equality audit’ of all government decisions;
• Enshrine meaningful high-level national standards for population
  health and health inequalities including commitments on ensuring life
  expectancy and health life expectancy match the best of our
  international peers and that children enjoy the best health and
  wellbeing outcomes possible;
• Place a new duty on local health services to reduce health
  inequalities, while ensuring public health services are fully funded and
  budgets ring fenced;
• Connect health services with Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring the NHS plays it part in tackling climate change;
• Recognises the NHS as an ‘economic anchor’ institution in
  communities and ensure it maximises the social value of local spending
  decisions.

Speaking at the Fabian Society’s Summer Conference, Jonathan Ashworth MP will say:

“Today a baby girl born in Liverpool can expect to live 13 fewer
years in good health than a baby girl born in Richmond. It’s an
injustice we cannot ignore.

“After nine years of Tory austerity, advances in life expectancy have
ground to halt, and even gone backwards in some of the poorest areas.
Shamefully, infant mortality rates – children dying before their first
birthday – have risen three years in a row for the first time since the
Second World War.

“Rates of premature deaths – including deaths linked to heart
disease, lung cancers and COPD – are two times higher in the most
deprived areas of England compared to the most affluent. While children
and adults living in the poverty are up to three times more likely to
develop mental health problems compared to those living in the highest
income brackets.

“Poverty and deprivation mean people get ill quicker and die sooner.
As socialists we should never settle for this, as Health Secretary I
won’t.

“The next Labour government will adopt a comprehensive,
cross-government national strategy to tackle health inequalities,
attacking the wider determinants of ill health and putting prevention
first.

“We will focus determinedly on improving the health and wellbeing of
every child, ensuring children have access to nutritious food not just
in schools but also by expanding Healthy Start. Labour will ensure the
poorest children receive the milk, fruit and vegetables they need.

“And to guarantee government decisions fully take account of long
term health impacts, we will introduce a Future Generations Wellbeing
Act drawing upon best practice including in New Zealand and closer to
home in Wales.

“It will mean local health services, alongside relevant public
bodies, will always act to reduce health inequalities and promote
overall wellbeing too. It will mean our NHS, as a local ‘economic
anchor’ institution in communities, takes account of the social value of
every pound spent and takes its obligations to climate change
seriously.

“Our health policy will be driven not just by a focus on cure but on
radically improving prevention and social wellbeing too. Our commitment
is to help people live longer, happier, healthier lives.”