Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Sarah Dyke

Thursday 4th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

May I start by saying how deeply saddened I was by the news that three Royal Navy personnel based out of Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton in my constituency tragically lost their lives on a training exercise in Devon the night before last? My thoughts are with their families, friends and colleagues at this incredibly difficult time.

Fuel is one of the biggest operating costs for farming businesses. Soaring red diesel and fertiliser costs, driven by Trump’s war in Iran, are squeezing already tight farming business margins. While the red diesel duty is welcome, it cannot paper over the wider crisis facing farm finances, with farm cash flows and profitability under real pressure. Farmers are now looking to the sustainable farming incentive 2026 as a lifeline. Can the Minister confirm how quickly applications will be processed and then the first payments made to farmers? Can she also give the 28,000 farmers with agreements that are expiring this year certainty that they can apply ahead of their current agreements—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. You cannot go on and on; we have only a very short time.

South East Water: Disruption of Supply

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Sarah Dyke

Wednesday 3rd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

Leaving thousands of South East Water customers without access to drinking water has become a pattern of neglect, enabled by a water system that fails to hold water companies accountable for their actions. Whether it is environmental disruption or consistent water disruption, this situation is simply unacceptable, but the Government’s timid reforms do not rise to the scale of the challenge. We do not need more tinkering—we need a total structural overhaul. Given the repeated failures in water supply and sewage pollution in the South East Water area and across the country, will the Minister back Liberal Democrat proposals for a mutually owned public benefit model for water companies, focusing investment on the environment, customers and infrastructure, rather than on lining the pockets of the bosses of water companies such as South East Water?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Sarah Dyke

Thursday 5th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

Last week, 50 mm of intense rain fell across large parts of Somerset and exacerbated the already saturated ground, with a major incident declared on Tuesday. With more unsettled weather in the forecast and high spring tides imminent, residents have told me that they are worried they could be facing a repeat of the devastating 2013-14 floods. With the increasingly unpredictable, intense and changing patterns of rainfall, communities must be given the resources they need to prepare extreme weather resilience plans.

I thank the Minister for her commitment to meet me in Somerset later this year, but will she bring forward that planned visit to Glastonbury and Somerton to witness the devastating impact that flooding is having on my communities while the floodwater levels remain up?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Sarah Dyke

Tuesday 25th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are on topical questions. The Prime Minister is in the Chamber. If you do not want Members to get in, please tell me; it would be easier.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

T7. In Somerset, only 41% of children have seen an NHS dentist in the past two years, which is well below the national average. Ben from Somerton is a single parent of four children. He lives in an NHS dental desert and worries about the health of his children’s teeth. There is no way he can pay for private dental care, as he can barely afford to pay for his children’s food. Ahead of the Budget tomorrow, can the Minister confirm what action he is taking?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Sarah Dyke

Thursday 6th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

Yet another wet winter across Somerset highlights the need for the Government to urgently deliver solutions to mitigate the impact of flooding on farmland and protect domestic food production. The Brue headwaters multi-benefit project, facilitated by the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group South West, is working with farmers and landowners in Bruton, Charlton Musgrove and Wincanton to address flooding issues and to hold workshops that focus on natural flood management, to slow the flow of water across the upper Brue, thus reducing flooding, sediment run-off and the associated pollution of water- courses. Despite those efforts, many farmers in the catchment, and indeed the county and the country, are angry at the level of inundation of land that could be prevented by better flood management. How will the Minister work to support farmers, build flood resilience and protect food security?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Sarah Dyke

Thursday 12th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

Somerset is home to 8,500 farmers and food producers, which is more than any other county in the UK. They are worried that the £130 million of support will be stripped from them because the previous Government replaced the basic payment scheme with systems that were too complicated for many farmers to access. Notwithstanding the previous comments, will the Secretary of State confirm that he will not be slashing their funding, and give farmers the confidence that they need to be able to invest in the future and secure the nation’s food security?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

Just one in 83 rape offences recorded by Avon and Somerset Police last year resulted in a charge or court summons. Compared with other police forces in the south-west, that represents a significant increase in 2023-24 for rape and sexual offence crimes. Does the Solicitor General agree that more needs to be done to strengthen the justice system as a whole to properly deal with sexual violence and domestic abuse, not just in Avon and Somerset but across England and Wales?