Food advertising impacts what we buy and eat, which in turn affects our risk of obesity. While the UK Government is due to implement restrictions on advertising unhealthy food and drink online and on TV in October 2025, advertising of such products in public spaces, such as on billboards or bus stops, remains relatively unchallenged at the national level. This is despite the fact that outdoor food advertising has a similar impact on food cravings as online advertising, as evidenced by University of Liverpool research. Unhealthy food advertising in public spaces may also have a large impact on people’s diets.

Despite the lack of national policy, councils across the UK are recognising the important role they can play in tackling obesity. At our last count, 15 councils across the UK have already introduced policies banning advertising of unhealthy food and drink on spaces they own. And in September 2024, 9 metro mayors announced a commitment to introduce similar policies across the combined authorities they represent, as reported on the BBC. We want to understand how the 356 local councils across the UK that have not yet implemented healthier food advertising policies could be encouraged and supported to do so.

In August, Nesta hosted a roundtable bringing together local authorities from across the UK who have either already implemented healthier food advertising policies or are in the process of doing so. The aim was to discuss the challenges and opportunities in developing such policies and explore what support and resources Nesta and other stakeholders could provide to make implementation simpler and more effective.

Revenue concerns are a primary barrier

Several local councils highlighted that potential lost revenue was the biggest barrier they faced to implementing healthier food advertising policies, with public health teams reporting push-back from advertising companies and internal teams that manage these contracts.

Roundtable attendees from councils that had already implemented healthier food advertising policies reported that they had not observed a decrease in revenue since doing so. A case study published by Sustain has also reported that both Transport for London and Haringey Council have not lost advertising revenue since implementing healthier food advertising policies. However, it is possible that in the absence of healthier advertising policies being implemented, revenues may have increased since their introduction. As a result, an important question that remains unanswered is whether advertising revenues are different than they would have been if such policies were never introduced. Attendees agreed that a robust evaluation addressing the cost implications of healthier food advertising policies would be a valuable resource.

Complexities in defining the scope of advertising policies

Attendees mentioned difficulties in drawing the line for which adverts should be banned and which allowed. This related to how ‘unhealthy’ should be characterised, alongside whether there should be exemptions for small local businesses. There was general consensus amongst attendees of using a standardised, objective approach to the latter using the UK Government’s established nutrient profiling model.

A related challenge was how to approach brand advertising such as content from a restaurant, supermarket or food manufacturer that does not directly show any specific food products. More than one attendee noted that Sustain, an alliance of organisations working for better food and farming, were very supportive in offering a framework for including brand advertising in their policy, and they also had included flexibility to circumnavigate this for certain scenarios, e.g. new supermarkets opening.

Strengthening the evidence base

A peer-reviewed evaluation of Transport for London’s (TFL) healthier food advertising policy has suggested their approach resulted in around 55 fewer kcal being purchased per person per day. Modelling estimated that this would result in almost 95,000 fewer individuals living with obesity in Greater London in a year. If accurate, these policies could have similar public health impacts to the Government’s policy restricting prominent positioning of unhealthy food and drink products in supermarkets. However some have raised their concerns about the methodological approach taken in the TfL evaluation, see for example the Advertising Association's response. Roundtable attendees also acknowledged that insights from TfL’s policy, while encouraging, may not translate to other areas of the country. Reassuringly, work is currently underway by academic partners to evaluate Bristol City Councils healthy advertising policy. Roundtable attendees suggested robust evaluations of existing council advertising policies from other parts of the UK would be valuable.

Getting the messaging right for stakeholder buy-in

Attendees highlighted the importance of securing both internal and public buy-in for new healthier food advertising policies, with one participant highlighting that resistance often stemmed from libertarian perspectives. To mitigate this, several attendees mentioned positively framing their initiatives as "healthier food advertising" rather than focusing on the restrictive aspects. Different framings can support healthy eating policies as explored in as demonstrated in previous work by Nesta. Additionally, one council highlighted tailoring communications to address specific local concerns — such as potential impacts on local heritage industry or small businesses, which proved effective in gaining support.

Resources to support policy implementation

Several attendees highlighted Sustain’s guidance as being particularly useful when developing their advertising policy, especially their Healthier Food Advertising Policy Toolkit. However, there was a consensus that additional materials could help councils. Specifically, detailed implementation guidance, including templates for internal and public communications, contracts and tender documents, alongside additional case studies of successful policy rollouts elsewhere, and a comprehensive document addressing common concerns and questions.

The need for a unified national approach

Many participants expressed support for a national policy restricting unhealthy food advertising in public spaces. They suggested this would reduce the considerable burden on individual local authorities to develop and implement their own policies. What's more, national policy would likely be significantly more impactful than individual council policies since it could cover privately-owned spaces alongside those owned by councils. While councils do not typically have data on privately owned advertising spaces in their area, it is estimated that only around 30% of advertising spaces are council-owned, according to research conducted in Bristol. Roundtable attendees suggested there may be a role for local authorities, alongside Nesta and other stakeholders, in advocating for national policy.

Building collaboration and addressing ongoing challenges

This article highlights the biggest discussion points raised during the roundtable, but is not exhaustive. Other important challenges mentioned included long-term contracts with advertising agencies and the timing of new contract negotiations, and the capacity of enforcement officers to monitor compliance with new policies. Attendees also highlighted the opportunity for collaborative approaches: working with academic partners for evaluation and joining forces with neighbouring authorities to strengthen policy development and implementation.

We are exploring how our unique set of capabilities can be most usefully applied to support the implementation of healthier food advertising policies at both the local and national level. If you are interested in talking to us about this , please get in touch with Jonathan Bone.