Committee publication · Correspondence · 3 June 2025
Letter from Guy Parker, Chief Executive, ASA, regarding less healthy food advertising, dated 29 May 2025
From: Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Inquiry: The work of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Summary
Guy Parker, ASA Chief Executive, updates the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on developments regarding less healthy food advertising restrictions. The Government announced a Written Ministerial Statement (22 May 2025) proposing to exempt 'brand advertising' from restrictions via statutory instrument and delay implementation from October 2025 to January 2026. The ASA is reviewing implications for its rules and guidance in consultation with Ofcom.
Key findings
- Government proposes statutory instrument to explicitly exempt brand advertising from less healthy food restrictions, framed as legal clarification of Parliament's original intent during Health and Social Care Bill passage
- Implementation delay from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026 to allow consultation on the draft statutory instrument
- Industry has voluntarily committed not to run clear-cut less healthy food ads during the interim period (October 2025 to January 2026)
- ASA and Ofcom are jointly reviewing how proposed legal changes affect their rules and guidance development
- ASA commits to producing clarity on rules and guidance as soon as possible following finalisation of the statutory instrument
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Guy Parker, Dame Caroline Dinenage, Baroness Morgan of Cotes, Ashley Dalton, Ofcom, Advertising Standards Authority, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Notable line
“The WMS, and proposed change to the law (which we have not yet seen, but will soon), obviously have significant implications for both our rules and guidance.”
Key Quotes
“We recognise the concerns that broadcasters have around the upcoming restrictions on less healthy food advertising.”
“… the Government published a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) on 22 May 2025, announcing that it intends to make, and lay, a Statutory Instrument (SI) to explicitly make 'brand advertising' exempt from the restrictions.”
“We will be aiming to produce rules and guidance that provide as much clarity as we can as soon as we can, so industry knows where it is.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗