Micro scale health decision making and the challenge of the policy and regulatory construct

Regulatory reform and the emergence of micro scale and targeted policy in England has created the potential to manage the number and distribution of fast-food takeaways (and, arguably, uses including casinos, ‘pay-day loan’ shops, and bookmakers), but the application of these policies and regulatory management systems has highlighted limitations and the challenge of operationalising a rigid regulatory construct against a dynamic and complex reality which manifests itself with fuzzy boundaries, nuances, interpretations, and paradoxes. It has also raised wider and more philosophical questions concerning the scope of state intervention into private lives and personal choices. This paper builds upon a developing body of research and specifically considers the emergence and application of regulatory and policy measures in the management of contested use/product types with a focus upon those with health implications. The work explores their future in the context of the scope of state intervention, the role and formation of policy, and the difficulty of translating policy intention through decision making and new regulatory mechanisms. Within this, the paper considers the wider problems of creating an effective legal framework that concerns lifestyle choices and product availability that challenge codification by use categorisation.