"Using the example of school food we were told of the anomaly that existed within many local authority boroughs where licencing practices mean councils actually end up undermining their own efforts in the schools by allowing the expansion of outlets which sell food that is high in salt, sugar and saturated fats which in effect pull children away from healthy eating.

Many times in the inquiry we heard about the valiant secondary school doing its utmost to put on high quality, affordable lunches for their pupils but being undercut by the local chip and chicken shop with its ‘pocket money’ prices. Older children understandably want the freedom of going off site at lunchtime but it is extraordinary that the local authority which is trying to encourage a child to have a healthy lifestyle in school allows an environment which nudges them to do precisely the reverse.

We were told that many local authorities do not exercise the appropriate controls which can be placed on mobile food units which results in the paradox that burger vans, once licenced, are in effect free to pitch up wherever they like so long as they do not infringe traffic regulations.

Some local authorities have woken up to this and are taking decisive action to create a more level playing field. Councils such as Waltham Forest and Tower Hamlets  and cities like Liverpool have introduced strategies to reduce obesity which include addressing obvious inconsistencies such as this."