An economic analysis of the impacts of local authority takeaway management zones around schools in England

Higher numbers of hot food takeaways in local neighbourhood food environments can be associated with increased exposure to, and consumption of, food that is high in fat and salt, and low in health promoting nutrients. Takeaway management zones enable local authorities in England to limit the number of new hot food takeaways opening. The impacts of takeaway management zones on local economies are currently unknown and yet commercial and other actors often place emphasis on the potential negative economic impacts. We projected the future economic impacts of takeaway management zones in three purposively sampled local authorities in England using financial micro-data from the UK's Annual Business Survey. We incorporated the value of potential healthcare cost savings due to reductions in population overweight and obesity from reduced exposure to hot food takeaways. We present the results of three scenarios that vary the length of commercial space vacancy (3, 6 or 12 months) when planning permission for a new hot food takeaway is refused. Despite the concerns of policymakers and objections from industry regarding the potential for negative economic impacts, our results suggest that takeaway management zones are associated with net economic benefits. These ranged between £8.49m and £12.78m in Manchester, £4.67m and £8.15m in Sheffield and £1.18m and £5.24m in Wandsworth between 2018 and 2040. This result is largely driven by the relatively low economic contribution of hot food takeaways and relatively high economic contribution of potential alternative usages.