Mr. Chris Macey:

The higher band relates to things such as energy drinks that have much bigger amounts of sugar in them. We know that three companies control 80% of that market, and two of them have not reduced the sugar in their products. The result is that the receipts are going up. Those companies have not been incentivised to reformulate down the sugar in their products, so the tax revenue there is going up. What we want and, as the Deputy said, what will be successful, as is happening in the lower band, is that the receipts actually go down. This is not about raising money; this is about public health, particularly public health among children who drink a lot of sugary drinks. We would say, therefore, that for the higher band the tax rate should go up to further incentivise those companies to reduce the amount of sugar in their products. That will bring the receipts down and bring the public health benefits. Like in the UK, where 35% of the sugar in sugary drinks has just been taken out of the market by such a tax, we are pretty sure, because of the markets being so similar, that the effect is the same here.