The One to watch

The activities of the Health Committee have been interesting lately. Ahead of a government policy announcement in November on a new obesity strategy, it is holding a series of high profile hearings on tackling the problem. Yesterday, Jamie Oliver gave evidence.






Jamie's evidence begins 27 minutes into the hearing. Another hearing is going on as I write this.



But a row has developed over the Government's refusal to allow the committee access to the data upon which the strategy is based. Withholding information until it is too late - is one of the oldest tricks in the book - but one which is not in the interest of good scrutiny. For more information - and the exchange of letters - visit the Health Committee website - here

Obesity

Today, the Health Committee will be meeting for an evidence session as part of their short inquiry into childhood obesity. It builds upon the Committee’s work in the last Parliament on the impact of diet and physical activity on health. This inquiry specifically considers what the Government’s policy priorities should be for addressing childhood obesity.

Their report on the impact of diet and physical activity on health can be downloaded from here.

Today's witnesses include -

Dr Paul Darragh, Board of Science, British Medical Association
Professor Graham MacGregor, Chairman, Action on Sugar
Malcolm Clark, Co-ordinator, Children’s Food Campaign
Andrew Opie, Director of Food and Sustainability,
British Retail Consortium
Ian Wright, Director General, Food and Drink Federation
Chris Snowdon, Director of Lifestyle Economics, Institute for Economic Affairs

I very much wish that I could go - but am unable to. However I will be using the excellent facility on Parliamentlive.tv to watch videos of hearings. If you are a follower of Parliament, or have a specific policy interest, this is a website to bookmark.