Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to support the reopening of community spaces that were closed as a result of flooding during Storm Chandra.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Storm Chandra brought heavy rain to the UK on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 January. This was felt especially by parts of the South and South West previously affected by Storm Ingrid, with the rain falling on already saturated ground, leading to 3 Severe Flood Warnings being issued. Across Somerset, around 50 properties have been reported as flooded, with rivers responding rapidly to recent rainfall and ground conditions remaining saturated. Flood warnings and alerts remain in force, and further rain is expected.
This Government recognises the terrible impact flooding has on householders and businesses, both in terms of physical damage, disruptions to daily activities and impacts on health, including mental health. Those affected should contact their insurance companies as quickly as possible. Affected householders should ask their insurance provider if they will be eligible for Build Back Better within their claim, which can provide for flood resilient repairs over and above the cost for like-for-like reinstatement of actual flood damage that would.
With localised flooding incidents, local authorities have well-established contingency arrangements in place to support their local communities. Local authorities also have discretionary powers to fund grants, loans, or other payments for home improvements. In severe weather events with widespread impacts, local authorities may receive central support to help reopen affected community spaces through the Flood Recovery Framework, however funding is typically deployed where there is large scale and widespread flooding.
Further information can be found here:
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to provide support to people in Yeovil constituency who have experienced property damage due to Storm Chandra.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Storm Chandra brought heavy rain to the UK on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 January. This was felt especially by parts of the South and South West previously affected by Storm Ingrid, with the rain falling on already saturated ground, leading to 3 Severe Flood Warnings being issued. Across Somerset, around 50 properties have been reported as flooded, with rivers responding rapidly to recent rainfall and ground conditions remaining saturated. Flood warnings and alerts remain in force, and further rain is expected.
This Government recognises the terrible impact flooding has on householders and businesses, both in terms of physical damage, disruptions to daily activities and impacts on health, including mental health. Those affected should contact their insurance companies as quickly as possible. Affected householders should ask their insurance provider if they will be eligible for Build Back Better within their claim, which can provide for flood resilient repairs over and above the cost for like-for-like reinstatement of actual flood damage that would.
With localised flooding incidents, local authorities have well-established contingency arrangements in place to support their local communities. Local authorities also have discretionary powers to fund grants, loans, or other payments for home improvements. In severe weather events with widespread impacts, local authorities may receive central support to help reopen affected community spaces through the Flood Recovery Framework, however funding is typically deployed where there is large scale and widespread flooding.
Further information can be found here:
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the level of damage done by Storm Chandra in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Storm Chandra brought heavy rain to the UK on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 January. This was felt especially by parts of the South and South West previously affected by Storm Ingrid, with the rain falling on already saturated ground, leading to 3 Severe Flood Warnings being issued. Across Somerset, around 50 properties have been reported as flooded, with rivers responding rapidly to recent rainfall and ground conditions remaining saturated. Flood warnings and alerts remain in force, and further rain is expected.
This Government recognises the terrible impact flooding has on householders and businesses, both in terms of physical damage, disruptions to daily activities and impacts on health, including mental health. Those affected should contact their insurance companies as quickly as possible. Affected householders should ask their insurance provider if they will be eligible for Build Back Better within their claim, which can provide for flood resilient repairs over and above the cost for like-for-like reinstatement of actual flood damage that would.
With localised flooding incidents, local authorities have well-established contingency arrangements in place to support their local communities. Local authorities also have discretionary powers to fund grants, loans, or other payments for home improvements. In severe weather events with widespread impacts, local authorities may receive central support to help reopen affected community spaces through the Flood Recovery Framework, however funding is typically deployed where there is large scale and widespread flooding.
Further information can be found here:
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to increase the proportion of livestock in the UK that are pre-stunned before slaughter.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Regulations require that animals must be stunned prior to slaughter so that they are unconscious and insensible to pain. The only exception to the requirement to stun is where animals are slaughtered in accordance with religious rites. The Government would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter, but we respect the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs.
For sheep and goats, the Government supports an industry-led initiative called the Demonstration of Life Protocol, which provides assurance for Muslim consumers that the stunning of these animals is compatible with halal slaughter requirements, while protecting the welfare of the animals involved and supporting opportunities for trade.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of food inflation on residents in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food and drink prices showed an annual rate of inflation of 4.2% in the year to November 2025, in the most recently published inflation figures for the UK, released by the Office for National Statistics. This is a decrease from 4.9% in October 2025.
General inflation in the UK was 3.2% in November 2025, down from 3.6% in October 2025.
These inflation figures are for the UK and are not available by constituency.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the need to improve drought resilience in Yeovil Constituency following the publication of the Environment Agency's Drought Prospects for Spring 2026.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise that improving drought resilience in Yeovil Constituency remains important following the Environment Agency’s (EA) latest Drought Prospects for Spring 2026, which highlights the need for continued monitoring of groundwater levels and winter rainfall. While recent rainfall has helped reservoirs, including Sutton Bingham near Yeovil, to refill to capacity, groundwater levels in the chalk aquifers of Wiltshire remain below average and are important to the wider Wessex Water supply grid.
Wessex Water is required to update its statutory drought plan, with a draft due to be published in 2027. This plan will set out improvements to their drought response as well as measures to manage demand and maintain supplies during drought while mitigating environmental impacts. In the meantime, Wessex Water continues to promote water efficiency and work with the EA to monitor conditions and update drought prospects as new data becomes available.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce waste crime in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to tackling waste crime from the fly-tippers who blight our towns and villages to the serious and organised crime groups who are exploiting the waste sector. We are making policy and regulatory reforms to close loopholes exploited by criminals and have increased the Environment Agency’s (EA’s) budget for waste crime enforcement by over 50% this year to £15.6m.
The EA focuses on tackling large-scale waste crime, often linked to organised criminal activity. While fly-tipping is managed by local authorities, the EA works proactively with partners including the police, HMRC, DVSA, Local authorities and National Farmers Union through intelligence-led “days of action” at locations such as Cartgate roundabout near Yeovil. These operations target unregistered waste carriers and ensure compliance with licensing requirements and robust enforcement for non-compliance.
Representatives from the EA sit on the Avon and Somerset Rural Affairs Forum which is a partnership to address rural crime including waste crime. The Agency is also part of the South-West Regional Organised Crime Unit, which focuses on serious and organised waste crime. This unit assesses reports of illegal waste activity, undertaking triage and determining the response, based on a range of risk and public interest factors.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support a reduction of incidents of fly-tipping in (a) Yeovil constituency and (b) South Somerset.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local councils are responsible for tackling fly-tipping in their area and have a range of enforcement powers to help them do so. These include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, seizing and crushing of vehicles and prosecution action. We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers and are taking steps to develop statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to support councils to consistently, appropriately and effectively exercise these existing powers. We are also conducting a review of council powers to seize and crush vehicles of fly-tippers, to identify how we could help them make better use of this tool.
In our manifesto we committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course.
In the meantime, Defra continues to chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders, such as local authorities, National Farmers Union and the Environment Agency, to share good practice on preventing fly-tipping, including on private land. Various practical tools are available from their webpage at: https://nftpg.com/
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of pollution incidents from Wessex Water sewerage assets in Somerset.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In Somerset, two new Water Industry Officer teams now monitor Wessex Water’s compliance with environmental permits and hold them accountable for pollution incidents. These teams inspect all Wessex Water assets and in 2024/25, delivered more inspections than any other EA Area, with similar performance expected this year. Officers are continually upskilled to strengthen incident response and enforcement capabilities to ensure they hold Wessex Water accountable.
Within the Yeovil constituency, the EA is due to complete a total of 22 inspections of Wessex Water assets this year, an increase from 6 last year. The EA has already responded to a significant pollution incident within the constituency, initially stopping the pollution incident and now investigating further to determine an appropriate enforcement response.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with farmers in (a) Yeovil constituency (b) Somerset and (c) the UK to help increase the UK's food security.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food security is national security. We need a resilient and healthy food system, that works with nature and supports British farmers, fishers and food producers. As part of the Government’s Plan for Change we are delivering on the Government’s New Deal for Farmers which includes a raft of new policies and major investment to boost profits for farmers.
We have allocated a record of £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production in England over this parliament. This includes funding for Environmental Land Management schemes, which amongst others, will deliver improvements to sustainable food production and the environment, in Somerset and across the country.
Furthermore, UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply. Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise.