Tax Big Tech, AI & Junk Food to Fund Children's Health & Well-being!

4.3 million children in the UK — 30% of all children — are living in poverty. We're told there's no money to fix it. We disagree.

Three fair taxes on the companies profiting most could raise £6–10 billion a year — ring-fenced, by law, for children, young people and families. Not swallowed by general spending. Not another empty promise.

Our ask, in short

• Raise the Digital Services Tax on Big Tech from 2% to 6%
• A new Digital Services Tax on AI companies, at 2% — large AI companies only, UK start-ups unaffected
• A Junk Food (HFSS) Tax on the manufacturers driving child obesity and ill health

Three taxes. Three industries that can well afford it. One ring-fenced fund for children's health and well-being.

What this would fund, starting immediately

• Free school meals for every child, in every primary and secondary school
• A school nurse in every school — 11,500 more recruited nationally
• Fully funded emotional and mental health support in every school, so no child falls through the gaps
• Investment in local sports and safe play facilities, prioritised for the communities that need it most
• Long-term, guaranteed funding for holiday food and activities (HAF), protected alongside Free School Meals

Why now?

Ofcom has fined Big Tech over £5 million for failing children under the Online Safety Act since December 2025 — and not one penny has been paid. Meanwhile AI is projected to displace millions of jobs across the UK in the years ahead, putting even more pressure on family finances and mental health. The industries driving these pressures can afford to help fix them.

These taxes wouldn't just help children — they'd improve adult health too, cutting NHS costs linked to obesity, cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other preventable conditions.

Sign the petition. Help us make Big Tech, AI and Junk Food pay their fair share — for children's sake.

#TaxTechFundKidsHealth

 
Want the full detail? Here's our complete policy ask:

(For everyone who wants to see exactly what we're asking government to do, and why.)

Part 1: Our Top Asks — priorities for immediate implementation

• Universal Free School Meals — fully fund free school meals for every child in primary and secondary school, improving nutrition, reducing family financial stress and boosting attainment UK-wide.
• A school nurse for every school, and a revitalised Health Visitor service — recruit 11,500 additional school nurses nationally, and invest £205 million a year in Health Visiting so every new parent gets proactive support.
• Investment in community sport and play facilities — equitable, high-quality local sport and "doorstep play" infrastructure, prioritised using deprivation data to reverse a decade of austerity.
• Expert emotional therapeutic provision in every school, permanently — legally required, fully funded therapeutic support (play, art and talking therapies) with a graduated pathway to school counsellors and CAMHS.
• Long-term, ring-fenced funding for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme — with the vital link to Free School Meal eligibility protected as entitlement expands.

Part 2: Our full policy roadmap

A. AI, Online & Social Media — building a safer digital future

• A new, independent, adequately funded E-Commission with statutory power to protect children online, funded by the Digital Services Tax
• Enforce a statutory 16+ age threshold for social media, backed by robust, audited age assurance
• Director liability — hold tech executives personally accountable for safeguarding failures
• A mandatory, independent redress system for online harms
• E-Commission scrutiny of AI chatbots, treating online harms as a public health issue

B. Poverty Reduction — systemic approaches to equity

• A new Child Poverty Act, committing to ending child poverty UK-wide by 2030, with binding national targets
• Re-introduce binding national targets tackling the root causes of child poverty, not just the symptoms

C. Public Health — creating healthy environments

• A new Public Health Act embedding children's health at the heart of policy and funding
• A dedicated Health Inequalities Strategy, so birthplace doesn't dictate lifelong health
• More funding for local Public Health teams, targeted at the crucial 0–5 years
• Mandatory folic acid fortification — preventing 80% of neural tube defects, saving the NHS an estimated £77m a year
• Mandatory iodine fortification of salt and plant milks — worth an estimated £7bn a year in GDP benefits

D. Food & Nutrition — ensuring healthy intake

• An HFSS/Junk Food Levy, extending the Sugar Drinks Levy model, ring-fenced for child health
• Auto-enrolment for Free School Meals, so no eligible child misses out
• Long-term funding for the National School Breakfast Programme
• Enhanced Healthy Start vouchers — full £8.50 weekly value to age five, extended to all households on Universal Credit
• A fit-for-purpose PSHE curriculum, including fully funded financial literacy

E. Early Years & Play — the foundation of creativity

• A re-launched, fully funded National Play Strategy (£370m at today's prices)
• Re-introduction of Sure Start or equivalent children's centres (£2.6bn investment goal)
• An upgraded, interactive digital "red book" for parent-carer bonding and attachment support
• Play as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010

F. Emotional Health — professional support & community

• Better joined-up working between school nursing, Mental Health Support Teams and CAMHS
• Standardised tools to match children's mental health needs to the right support
• Early support hubs in every local authority (£103m/year), to intervene before crisis point
• A mandatory emotional learning and mental health curriculum, from early years onward

G. Physical Activity — promoting movement and health

• A genuine "In Real Life" play and physical wellbeing policy, prioritising no-tech, relational activity
• Trauma-informed approaches across physical literacy initiatives, recognising the impact of adverse childhood experiences
   

These positive taxes would not only help children but also improve adult health and reduce NHS costs by addressing obesity, cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other preventable conditions.

Sign & share. #TaxTechFundKidsHealth