Speeches by Coleman.

“Thank you for coming today. I think that, like me, you probably listened with great interest to the previous session and are keen to say things now. I would like to ask about the Food Standards Agency, but you mentioned Diet Coke. I do not know if you have read Chris van Tulleken’s book, but there is a very interesting…”

“Just yesterday, the Government came out with new figures showing that the prevalence of childhood obesity in the most deprived areas is more than double the prevalence in the least deprived. It may surprise many hon. Members to hear that it is a significant problem in my constituency. Although Chelsea and Fulham is amo…”

“I am grateful, Mr Mundell—I will conclude. The hon. Member makes a very helpful point, particularly for constituencies that are more rural than mine of Chelsea and Fulham—what he says certainly has validity in many parts of the country. My final point is very simple: families do not need lectures. They need a Governmen…”

“That is a very important point. The availability of fast food right outside schools needs to be looked at and curtailed. The food is cheap, but it is incredibly low quality, and it is not doing our children any good. And school food standards are not properly enforced. There is a lot of cheap school food, but in some o…”

“If only you could identify which it was.”

“This is a really interesting session and I appreciate everything you have said. To come back to the importance of national Government giving a steer, and what happens at local level, it occurs to me that you are very effective proselytisers. Again, I am looking forward to reading the book. Have you considered sitting d…”

“Thank you. I look forward to getting the book.”

“Where would you put this commissioner? Would you put them in the Department or in the Cabinet Office?”

“This Committee, sadly, does not have the power to effect change, but it has the power to influence change. Carole, on that point, you have talked about a commissioner for older people and ageing—somebody who could drag things across Government. How do you see that working and what difference would it make in ensuring t…”

“Take a Seat?”

“Where are the best ones that you are aware of?”

“You’d be lucky.”

“When you say a long period, do you mean three years, one year or 30 years?”

“Carole, do you agree with that?”

“We need lots of people to come together. Locally, you have councils and the NHS working together on these things—in theory. We have community and voluntary organisations that can do extraordinary things, but they need to be commissioned often. They do not have that much money, particularly these days. What needs to hap…”

“If you were to recommend the programme elsewhere, what would you say are its particular benefits or outcomes?”

“Some of what you are saying—lifts breaking down and so on—depends on other people: landlords, local authorities and so on. Do you work differently with them as well? Do they buy into your programme from the beginning?”

“I am going to ask a question now; thank you, Chair—you see how briskly we are kept in order. A lot of interesting data has been shared with us. Age UK is running a health coaching programme. Can you tell us a bit more about that? I am particularly interested in the inequalities aspect, and why it was particularly benef…”

“Yes it is, because we have a lot of meetings, and we rush from A to B, so “Gray’s Brisk Walking Guide”—I think we are doing that already.”

“To reassure you, I do not know whether you have spent any time in this citadel, but we all do thousands of steps. I do far more walking than I ever used to do before I was an MP—well over 6,000 a day.”