This policy response sets out the Oral Health Foundation’s priorities for the Autumn Budget 2025 and highlights the role fiscal policy can play in improving oral health and reducing inequalities.

As an independent charity working to improve oral health and wellbeing for more than 50 years, the Oral Health Foundation aligns its recommendations with the UK 10-Year Health Plan and the WHO Global Oral Health Strategy (2023–2030).

This briefing:

• Calls for the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) to be strengthened and expanded to include pre-packaged milk-based and plant-based drinks with added sugars, driving reformulation and generating funds for prevention.

• Urges government to ring-fence revenue from the SDIL and future health-related levies to support oral disease prevention, community programmes and improved access to care.

• Recommends stronger governance safeguards to limit the influence of tobacco, alcohol and ultra-processed food and drink industries in health and fiscal policymaking.

• Highlights the high prevalence of dental caries among adults and children in the UK and the growing pressures on NHS dental access.

• Links oral health to wider health, wellbeing and equity, reinforcing the need for prevention-focused investment.

• Supports coordinated action through the Recipe for Change coalition of health organisations and campaign groups.

The response emphasises that Budget decisions on taxation, prevention funding and public health governance can have a lasting impact on oral health outcomes and health inequalities.

Response issued: November 2025

Oral Health Foundation response to Autumn Budget 2025