Senedd: Welsh Ministers told to change the law on fast food near schools
A Senedd committee has called on Welsh Government to change planning legislation to stop fast food chains opening near schools in deprived communities, after hearing evidence that local authorities are failing to block the outlets.
The demand came during the Equality and Social Justice Committee’s final scrutiny session with Jane Hutt, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip, on Monday.
Jane Dodds MS (Liberal Democrats, Mid and West Wales) told the committee the current planning system was allowing companies to set up near schools in the poorest parts of Wales.
“We heard in the evidence that the planning system gives permission to major companies that serve fast food, like Greggs and McDonald’s and so on, to be built near schools, particularly in poorer areas and communities,” Ms Dodds said.
“That is completely unacceptable.”
Committee chair Jenny Rathbone MS (Labour, Cardiff Central) said she had heard directly from councillors about the problem.
“Blaenau Gwent, one of the councillors said that she was so frustrated that we were still having, and I’ve also heard the local Member talk about that, yet another one of these junk-food places being set up, and no resistance by the local authority,” Ms Rathbone said.
She questioned how much impact the Welsh Government’s existing health strategy was having on planning decisions at local level.
“I think the ‘Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales’ delivery plan is a route to that,” Ms Hutt told the committee.
She said the responsibility came back to “influencing our local health boards, our local authorities, and our local partnership co-ordinators, and supporting them.”
She said the committee’s evidence was “really useful” and the Government would “want to test this more.”
Claire Germain, deputy director for tackling poverty at Welsh Government, said the Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales strategy included a section on regulatory levers.
“I know that in the ‘Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales’ strategy, there’s a section there about that sense of the regulatory levers, regulatory impact, such as planning decisions and others on food choices,” Ms Germain said. “So, I know that it’s something that we as a Government have been looking at.”
Keith Smyton, deputy director for food at Welsh Government, was more direct. Asked whether his team worked on that part of the plan, Mr Smyton replied: “We don’t really work on that side of the plan.”
Ms Dodds returned to press for a specific commitment, telling the Cabinet Secretary the committee had heard evidence that legislative change was needed.
“What we were hearing was that there’s a need for change in the legislation to ensure that this doesn’t continue to happen across Wales,” Ms Dodds said.
She urged the Cabinet Secretary to take the message back to Government, adding: “We have to ensure that this doesn’t happen, and it’s not just down to the local authorities to take the responsibility for this.”
Ms Hutt agreed it was “clearly a national issue too” but did not commit to legislative change before the end of the sixth Senedd. The Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales delivery plan runs until 2027. No specific review of planning regulations around schools was announced.
The committee said it would follow the matter up directly with the Welsh Local Government Association. Ms Rathbone told Ms Hutt: “I don’t know what role Government thinks it has in reminding local authorities of their public health duty.”
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