Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to address regional variation in access to continuous glucose monitoring, including in Dorset.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning health services to meet the needs of their populations. In doing so they must have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, including for diabetes. The National Diabetes Audit (NDA), and the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit (NPDA) along with NHS Digital’s NDA and NPDA dashboards provide comprehensive data on care processes and outcomes and highlight variation. The dashboards help commissioners, providers, and paediatric diabetes units benchmark themselves and target improvements.
NHS Dorset has a policy in place for the provision of prescribable continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
In order to ensure that Dorset patients are being treated appropriately, use of CGM is tracked against patient eligibility criteria as set out in NICE guidance and the NHS Dorset CGM policy.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 improve public confidence in the water sector.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our New Vision for Water sets out once‑in‑a‑generation reforms to transform the water system. We will establish a new water regulator to raise trust and accountability, and set up an independent, impartial and accredited Ombudsman so customers have assurance their complaints will be resolved.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of funding Continuous Glucose Monitoring for a wider range of diabetes patients.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving access to diabetes technologies is a priority for NHS England, which uses routine data from the National Diabetes Audit (NDA) to help integrated care boards and providers benchmark themselves and target improvements.
The NDA 2025/26 reports that 64% of people registered as living with type 1 diabetes and eligible for Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) had access to the technology and 65% of people registered as living with type 2 diabetes and eligible for CGM had access to the technology.
The eligibility criteria for CGM amongst type 2 diabetics are set in guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG28
NICE is an independent body with its own processes for reviewing and updating its guidance taking account of the best available evidence of both clinical and cost effectiveness
A new diabetes technology dashboard is in development, for publication in 2026. This will allow health systems and providers to better understand access to technology and target improvement efforts, to support higher uptake of CGM for those eligible.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review eligibility criteria for Continuous Glucose Monitoring for people with Type 2 diabetes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving access to diabetes technologies is a priority for NHS England, which uses routine data from the National Diabetes Audit (NDA) to help integrated care boards and providers benchmark themselves and target improvements.
The NDA 2025/26 reports that 64% of people registered as living with type 1 diabetes and eligible for Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) had access to the technology and 65% of people registered as living with type 2 diabetes and eligible for CGM had access to the technology.
The eligibility criteria for CGM amongst type 2 diabetics are set in guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG28
NICE is an independent body with its own processes for reviewing and updating its guidance taking account of the best available evidence of both clinical and cost effectiveness
A new diabetes technology dashboard is in development, for publication in 2026. This will allow health systems and providers to better understand access to technology and target improvement efforts, to support higher uptake of CGM for those eligible.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support is available to small and medium-sized growers to develop direct-to-consumer sales models.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Farmers often face power imbalances within the supply chain and can feel they have little influence on commercial negotiations. Powers in the Agriculture Act have been used to introduce ‘Fair Dealings’ Regulations, applying to businesses when purchasing agricultural products from farmers. These regulations could mandate that contracts include certain information (e.g. termination clauses, duration, pricing information) and set parameters around these details. Defra will continue to work closely with all relevant industry stakeholders on the best way to achieve this.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 is taking steps to support grower-led supply chains.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Farmers often face power imbalances within the supply chain and can feel they have little influence on commercial negotiations. Powers in the Agriculture Act have been used to introduce ‘Fair Dealings’ Regulations, applying to businesses when purchasing agricultural products from farmers. These regulations could mandate that contracts include certain information (e.g. termination clauses, duration, pricing information) and set parameters around these details. Defra will continue to work closely with all relevant industry stakeholders on the best way to achieve this.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support grower-led supply chains in (a) rural areas and (b) West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Farmers often face power imbalances within the supply chain and can feel they have little influence on commercial negotiations. Powers in the Agriculture Act have been used to introduce ‘Fair Dealings’ Regulations, applying to businesses when purchasing agricultural products from farmers. These regulations could mandate that contracts include certain information (e.g. termination clauses, duration, pricing information) and set parameters around these details. Defra will continue to work closely with all relevant industry stakeholders on the best way to achieve this.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the payment values and maximum eligible land areas will be for the Sustainable Farming Incentive options retained for 2026.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government recognises the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) must work alongside food production, not displace it. So, the department will limit how much land can be put into certain actions and review payment rates for others. These changes will make funding go further, allowing more people to benefit from agreements.
Defra is considering an agreement value cap for the new SFI offer, and this will be tested with stakeholders before we confirm further details in due course. Alongside this, the Government will set clear budgets for each application window and provide regular updates so that farmers can see when a window is approaching full subscription. The Government will confirm the budgets for each window ahead of the first application window opening in June.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to increase urban and peri-urban horticulture.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises that expanding urban and peri‑urban food growing can support communities by increasing access to fresh produce, improving local green spaces and contributing to public health and environmental outcomes.
The Environmental Improvement Plan, published in December, describes the actions we will take to restore nature, improve environmental quality, create a circular economy, protect environmental security and improve people’s access to nature.
Community‑led initiatives are available to support projects that create opportunities for people to grow food locally and sustainably in urban and peri-urban areas and will play an important part in supporting urban greening.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 taking steps to help support the expansion of urban and peri-urban food growing on the environment, public health and communities.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises that expanding urban and peri‑urban food growing can support communities by increasing access to fresh produce, improving local green spaces and contributing to public health and environmental outcomes.
Defra’s revised Environmental Improvement Plan, published in December 2025, describes the actions the department will take to restore nature, improve environmental quality, create a circular economy, protect environmental security and improve people’s access to nature.
Community‑led initiatives are available to support projects in West Dorset that create opportunities for people to grow food locally and sustainably in urban and peri-urban areas, and will play an important part in supporting urban greening.