YP Letters: Pop tax not enough to tackle obesity

AS the dust settles on George Osborne’s Budget, it is becoming clear that the fizzy pop tax is perhaps even more of a frill than originally thought.

A tax on sugary drinks alone will not end child obesity. We need a long term strategy to support parents in all aspects of family life if we want a healthy future for our children.

An ill-thought-out dash towards academy primary schools, with no role for parents in their governance, will not help achieve that – especially given the very recent evidence that academy schools are not the be all and end all for education.

The notion that Bradford’s Sir Nick Weller will prepare a plan for improving school education in the North can be welcomed, but until it is clear what that means, one should only offer a cautious welcome.

Certainly prepare a plan for education before any more discussion about academies and school governors. There is a need for a Yorkshire Education Challenge which mirrors the successful London Challenge.

Announcements about a four-lane M62, a new tunnel from Manchester to Sheffield, HS3 and upgrades for the A66 and A69 again can only receive a cautious welcome as all that is actually being offered is the planning for these things. One wonders which will come first: London’s Crossrail 2 or any of the five promised Northern developments.

The increase in insurance tax premium to be spent on flood defences in York, Leeds, Calder Valley, Carlisle and across Cumbria is estimated at £700m.

Given that the scheme originally mooted for Leeds alone was £190m five years ago, it’s hard to see how the money will be used effectively.

The £13m for Hull’s City of Culture can be welcomed, especially if it is spent wisely producing a long term sustainable benefit for Hull and its communities.

However, money being made available for museums to support travelling exhibitions sticks in the craw. Will this mean that the items removed from Bradford to London will come back as part of a travelling circus?

Business rates will be reduced or will be nil for half of all businesses. The Local Government Association is already asking for clarification as to exactly what that means. As part of the Northern Powerhouse deals, councils are expecting to keep 100 per cent of business rates, so just what exactly will any new combined authority be collecting? One hundred per cent of nothing?

The announcement that Lincolnshire will go it alone as a combined authority puts to rest the notion of a back room Humberside deal. Now is the time for local authorities in Yorkshire to put aside their parochial ambition and look at what a real Yorkshire-wide Assembly could produce. Then, and only then, could we plan properly for the future of our region without the piecemeal policies outlined above handed down from our “masters” in London.

From: Tony Armitage, Harrogate.

OBESITY is not good for the individual or the nation as a whole and must undoubtedly be reduced, but George Osborne has not found the correct solution. It is a medical, not fiscal, condition and should be treated accordingly.

We are told that the forthcoming sugar tax is to raise many millions of pounds of revenue which he has already allocated to other future Government expenditure. If, as we are supposed to believe, the tax will prevent obesity by reducing demand for (some) of the offending products, then the revenue will reduce in each successive year of his tax-based solution.

If George Osborne is counting on his revenue objectives being achieved, he must be counting on the failure of his policy for the prevention of obesity.

Sailing into verbal joust

From: Hugh Rogers, Messingham Road, Ashby.

“PLAIN sailing” and “plane sailing” are both valid nautical terms, as highlighted by recent correspondence. The former refers to sailing in unobstructed waters and is by far the more common expression because these days it also refers to something uncomplicated. I am sure this was what the Yorkshire Rows captain was referring to when she used it.

The latter is an esoteric expression of little relevance to anyone except ships’ navigators in the long, lonely watches of the night. Possibly not even then. And anyway if, like correspondent Michael Robinson, you wanted to be pedantic about it, you could point out that they weren’t sailing at all, but rowing!

The long wait for answers

From: Brian Scriven, Charles Avenue, Agbrigg, Wakefield.

MORE than 50 days for a reply from David Cameron to a letter over flooding does appear to be the norm.

On March 28, 2011, I wrote to the head of a department of Wakefield Council about the new flood barrier. As of today, it is five years and I’m still waiting for a reply, but I’m not holding my breath. It does make people wonder just how serious the Government, and the agencies concerned, are in trying to resolve the problems of flooding.