Rural Affairs

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Commons Chamber

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

Yesterday, I spoke to Ian, who has a beef enterprise and grows cider apples on his farm in Glastonbury. Now 74, he has worked his entire life to buy back his family’s 100-acre farm. He has finally done it, but the Government’s changes to the APR will soon tear it apart again, undoing his life’s work and leaving the farm unviable.

Sadly, Ian is not alone. During the debate, I read an email from a farmer in Charlton Musgrove who says that her family are shell-shocked by Labour’s attack on family farms. The farming sector has experienced one shock after the other in recent years, from Brexit to energy prices, the war in Ukraine, rising feed prices, the Conservatives’ terrible trade deals and mismanagement of the economy, and the botched transition from the basic payment scheme to the environmental land management schemes. Farming is in crisis, and here we are yet again with a misguided policy that hits the future sustainability of family-run farms.

We cannot allow this to continue as a sterile policy debate about optimal tax rates and allowances. This is about people’s lives, food security and the future of our countryside and the natural environment. It will not be wealthy landowners who suffer under the Government’s new family farm tax; it will be farming families barely able to make a living and, sadly, those who are left behind when a farmer dies unexpectedly, and who do not have access to clever accountants or special consultants. Not only will they have to deal with the emotional trauma of losing a parent or a partner; they may be at risk of losing the farm—their home.

The Government must abolish this family farm tax or, at the very least, raise the threshold to limit its impact on those who should not have to and cannot afford to bear the brunt. The Government must look closely at loopholes that allow wealthy landowners who are not farmers to use land as an inheritance tax loophole.

Agriculture is the most dangerous in industry in Britain. When we talk about farmers, many will assume that we are talking about males, but many women work in agriculture, and they are 10% more likely to suffer with depression and 15% more likely to suffer with anxiety. Women make up 55% of the farming workforce in England and Wales, so there is an urgent need for targeted interventions, particularly at key points in their lives, when they are most vulnerable to mental ill health, such as during extreme weather or disease outbreaks.

This family farm tax is another example of gender stereotypes and outdated assumptions about modern farming. Modern family farms are not always run by traditional families, so many will not be able to take advantage of the extra relief. The Government’s claim that 75% of farms will be unaffected relies on the assumption that every farmer is married and will benefit from twice the basic allowance.

Budget: Implications for Farming Communities

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Monday 4th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Zeichner]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; many people in this country, and many farmers in particular, are struggling to get by. That is why it is very important that in this Budget we maintained the budget for the support schemes that people are getting used to; it is interesting to note that they are now being subscribed to in much higher numbers. That support will be available to help people to make the transition and to go on supplying food for this country, which is so important.

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

It has now been more than 10 years since devastating floods wrecked the Somerset levels and moors, causing untold damage. At the time, affected communities were told that money was no object when it came to protecting the area, but now, deep in the Budget document, there is a hint that the farming and flood defences budget might be cut. Can the Minister explain to my farmers in Glastonbury and Somerton, who are terrified of more flooding devastation this winter, how the Government aim to protect them?

[Daniel Zeichner]

I remember those awful times very well. “Money is no object” is not something that was said by my party, I can tell her; it was said by the now Opposition, and perhaps it was not exactly the right way to put it. Extreme weather events are a challenge for all of us across the country. My colleagues and I will work with everyone to find the best ways to resolve them, but let us not for one moment imagine that this is a simple issue to solve. The flooding challenges are very real and we are working on them. I look forward to further discussions with the hon. Lady.

Water Companies: Regulation and Financial Stability

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the regulation and financial stability of water companies.

It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your guidance this afternoon, Mr Pritchard. It is a real honour and privilege to have secured this debate on a matter of enormous importance to my constituents in Westmorland and Lonsdale and, quite clearly, to many around the room and beyond.

I wonder whether, in the aftermath of the 2019 general election, many pundits or politicians would have predicted that by the 2024 election water quality would be one of the top three doorstep issues, and a subject of discussion here and in the main Chamber within an hour or two of each other, and indeed within the same week as in the other place. That is exactly what has happened, and there are a number of reasons why.

First, leaving the EU meant that we needed to introduce our own legislation to replace what went before. In doing so, people, including MPs, looked under the bonnet, so to speak, for the first time and were horrified to see what was there: the sewage outflows into our rivers, lakes and coastal areas that had been long permitted.

Secondly, the last Government failed to take effective action to limit those outflows, allowing excessive dividends and bonuses on the one hand and inadequate infrastructure investment on the other.

Thirdly, the situation is objectively getting worse. Climate change, higher rainfall, inadequate regulation and failure to invest in infrastructure renewal means that 2023 saw a 54% increase in sewage spills compared to the year before.

Fourthly, and just as importantly, this issue has emerged because community campaigners across the country have resolved that they will not accept this appalling situation and have led the way in holding water companies, regulators and the Government to account. Organisations in our Westmorland communities, such as the Clean River Kent Campaign, Save Windermere and the Eden Rivers Trust—and many more, both in my communities and around the whole UK—have engaged in citizen science, heightened awareness and galvanised public opinion.

The Liberal Democrats have made this issue a priority, too. Water is so important to us that my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey) spent most of the general election campaigning about it—and, indeed, spent quite a lot of time in it! Having led my party through a previous general election, I know exactly how it feels to spend one’s campaign in deep water, and even, on occasions, up to one’s neck in poop.

I have the immense privilege of serving Westmorland and Lonsdale and being MP for, among others, Windermere, Ullswater, Coniston Water, Haweswater, Rydal Water, Grasmere, Brothers Water, the River Kent, the River Eden, the River Lune, many other rivers, and much of Morecambe bay. For us, water is deeply personal; it is precious to our biodiversity, our heritage and our tourism economy.

Failure to tackle the issue rightly raises passions, but the fault lies in the system. We have an industry financing model and a regulatory framework that are simply not fit for purpose. However, I do not want to demonise the people who work for water companies. Good, competent and decent people work for United Utilities in my community and for other companies across the rest of the country, on the ground and indeed underground. The same applies for those who work for the Environment Agency and Ofwat. They are good, hard-working and professional people working within a system that is badly broken, and that broken system has an appalling impact on communities in the lakes and dales of Westmorland.

I have a few figures to demonstrate the situation, courtesy of the Rivers Trust. Last year in Appleby, combined sewer outflows into the River Eden saw 46 spills. At Kirkby Stephen on the River Eden, there were 135 spills. At Staveley on the River Kent, there were 283 spills. At Tebay on the River Lune, there were 124 spills.

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

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Tim Farron]

In one second. At Greystoke on the River North Petteril, there were 146 spills. I could go on, but I will give way to my hon. Friend.

[Sarah Dyke]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his excellent speech. Data from Thames Water shows that Glastonbury and Somerton was the 16th worst constituency in England and Wales for sewage overflows. Does my hon. Friend agree that the commission should consider establishing pollution baselines and reduction targets?

[Tim Farron]

I absolutely agree. That reminds us that, of the over 464,000-plus spills that took place in 2023, most were legal and permitted—and most of them should not have been. We juxtapose this failure with the reality of money leaking out of the sector in the form of dividends and bonuses. Since privatisation, £78 billion has been paid out in dividends and, in the last four years, we saw £62 million paid out to company executives in bonuses.

Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

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?

[Steve Reed]

I am delighted to congratulate those farmers, producers and growers in Somerset. It is a fine county and they do an incredibly good job, of which the hon. Lady is rightly proud. I hope she will understand that I cannot make comments about the Budget in advance; I would be in deep trouble with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which is something I wish to avoid. At the appropriate time, we will make absolutely clear what we intend to do. My intention is to fight the corner of farmers through the spending review process so that we can make sure they receive the resources they deserve.

--- 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?

[The Solicitor General]

I entirely agree with the hon. Member that this needs to be an absolute priority and that we need to drive improvements in conviction rates. That is why there is a commitment to introduce specialist rape courts, working to fast-track rape cases and driving down wait times, and why it is important, at the start of the system, to put domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms. It is that whole suite of measures that will lead to the improvements that we all want to see.

Sheep Farming

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Wednesday 4th September 2024 Westminster Hall

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

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Huq, and I thank the hon. Member for Hexham (Joe Morris) for securing this important debate. Livestock, including sheep, are a big contributor to the south-west rural economy, but the sector is facing several challenges. Food production is worth more than £500 million in Somerset, and the industry provides employment for 8,500 farmers and food producers, which is the highest number for any UK county.

Farming, by its very nature, cannot be as responsive as other industries. Crops take time to grow and animals take time to rear. That means that farmers need the certainty to be able to create long-term plans and invest in their businesses, rather than making changes on the hoof, but the previous Government failed to provide that stability. From U-turning on actions to take land out of food production to the botched trade transition, and from direct payments to environmental land management schemes, their policies undermined farmers and have led to a collapse in their willingness to invest in their businesses.

Farmers need to be able to run their businesses with certainty. They need to know what funding is available, what standards are to be met and what support they are going to receive from the new Government. It is regrettable that this Government seem to have decided to continue in the Conservatives’ footsteps by refusing to commit to the agricultural budget. With over 55,000 agri-environment agreements in place this year, a big part of the industry has been encouraged to become reliant on Government payments. Unless the Government commit to the agricultural budget, those farmers will not hear whether those payments will continue at current rates until the spending review in the autumn, impacting on their ability to plan. It is no surprise that the National Farmers Union found that short and mid-term confidence is at its lowest level since records began in 2010.

I have spoken before in this place about how many farmers are leaving the industry because they do not have the confidence to continue and about the impact that that is having on their mental health. Ninety-two percent of farmers under the age of 40 say that poor mental health is the biggest hidden problem that farmers face today, and those pressures will likely be compounded further by yesterday’s report that the Government are going to slash the nature-friendly farming budget. Not only would that seriously threaten many farmers’ livelihoods, but it would result in at least 239,000 fewer hectares of nature-friendly farmland, according to research by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The National Trust, the RSPB, and the Wildlife Trust warned before the election that the nature-friendly farming budget had to increase if the UK is to meet its legally binding nature and climate targets. Cutting it would be tantamount to ignoring our legal targets.

Livestock play a central role in my Glastonbury and Somerton constituency, so my constituents are particularly worried about the threat of diseases such as bluetongue and Schmallenberg. As the proud owner of a small flock of non-commercial pedigree Shetland sheep, I share those concerns. The pandemic showed us that Britain is capable of being a vaccine superpower. I call on the Government to again work with industry to prevent us from experiencing an outbreak of bluetongue like those we have seen in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. It is essential that DEFRA and the Animal and Plant Health Agency have learned lessons from the covid inquiry and previous inquiries into the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak, and have robust and tested traceability data processes in place to enable effective disease response.

There are also smaller, cost-free changes that would improve our ability to trace livestock and reduce the amount of bureaucracy that farmers face. For example, although farmers can report sheep movements electronically, they also have to use paper passports with the exact same information. If we want accurate tracking, which is essential for proper biosecurity, we need to incentivise the use of digital reporting and remove that outdated requirement. That small change would be a step in the right direction to transform livestock information services into a system that is fit for purpose and fit for the future.

The previous Government were woefully irresponsible for failing to protect British agriculture from Brexit and the botched trade deals. The new Government must give British farmers the tools they need to seize new trade opportunities and must introduce robust policies to protect them from uncompetitive imports.

Since leaving the EU, the food and drink industry has been burdened with additional friction and cost, often paying for checks on goods that have never taken place. It is essential that we give our farmers the ability to trade with our European neighbours with minimal need for checks by negotiating comprehensive veterinary and plant health agreements. The Government should support the country’s largest manufacturing sector by expediting their talks on this issue and improving our working relationship with our largest trading partner.

Similarly, the Government must ensure that sheep farmers can export breeding stock without delay by providing additional capacity for border control. We need to protect our markets from lamb and mutton from countries that have less rigorous animal welfare and environmental standards. If we do not, we risk undermining our farmers and the faith that consumers have in our meat.

As a Liberal Democrat, I believe that there needs to be fairness throughout the supply chain. Our ability to produce world-leading lamb and mutton is being constrained by a bottleneck at slaughterhouses caused by vet shortages. The British Veterinary Association believes that those shortages are worst in rural areas such as Glastonbury and Somerton. I am concerned about the impact that that will have on food prices, animal welfare, Somerset’s rural economy and vets’ mental health.

I have always been proud to represent this industry because we have a world-leading animal welfare system, but we need vets to maintain that. We have some of the best vets in the world, but the Government need to focus on retaining them. The UK’s chief veterinary officer, Dr Christine Middlemiss, said that almost half of vets who are leaving the profession have been there for less than four years. We must rise to that challenge by increasing the UK’s training capacity, which will require an increase in the amount of funding available per student and the introduction of a regulator.

We have many more Liberal Democrat MPs representing rural constituencies than ever before, because rural communities know that we understand them and will always fight for them. Farmers trust us to have their backs because of our track record and our policies, which include properly funding ELMs with an additional £1 billion a year, renegotiating the Australian and New Zealand trade agreements, and making the supply chain fairer by strengthening the Groceries Code Adjudicator. With farmers facing new challenges, there is a huge amount of uncertainty across all agricultural sectors, including sheep, and the new Government must take clear steps to support them.

Fly-tipping

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Westminster Hall

[Deirdre Costigan]

I certainly agree. I will return later to my hon. Friend’s point about making the polluter pay. Currently it is certainly not worth councils’ time or money in many instances to take fly-tippers to court because the fines, and indeed the sentencing, do not act as a deterrent. Some people feel it is okay to leave their rubbish at the end of the street because the council will pick it up. This is a vicious cycle and we need to break it.

Secondly, in the small number of cases that do go to court, magistrates do not take the issue seriously enough or understand how fly-tipping blights the life of local communities. The sentencing just is not enough to make people think twice. The criminals who make a pretty penny by offering to take away waste for 20 quid tell the court they are unemployed, so they get away with not having to pay. The waste carrier licensing system is also so lax that it is hard for someone to lose their licence, even if they have broken the rules and been convicted.

Thirdly, there is a problem with housing in London. We know that there is not enough of it and that is why this Government have committed to building 1.5 million new homes. Right now, in Ealing Southall, there are people living in overcrowded accommodation, where there is often not enough space for a bin. I have also been told by many of my constituents that tenants sometimes illegally sub-let a room, but insist that the new tenant does not use the rubbish bins so that the landlord does not find out.

Finally, there is just too much waste in the first place. As a nation, we are drowning in unnecessary packaging, single-use drink containers, and household items that are difficult and expensive to recycle. We have to be honest about fly-tipping. In a Keep Britain Tidy study, one in five people in London admitted that they had fly-tipped themselves—this is often black-sack fly-tipping. It is simply not an excuse that the council is not doing enough because every council in London offers a free kerbside collection for black-sack rubbish. However, people often do not see this as fly-tipping, and it is very difficult to change their behaviour. No amount of education seems to work.

Trying to stop people from fly-tipping is a huge challenge. Keep Britain Tidy has piloted a number of schemes, including in Newham, that have had some success, but the schemes often simply move fly-tipping to the next road. Some councils have tried community skips, including my neighbouring authority of Brent. However, despite the council’s hard work, Brent sadly still has the highest fly-tipping rate in London, at 34,000 incidents a year. Although residents like the community skip, it does not stop people from fly-tipping.

The recycling charity WRAP has found that there is no evidence at all to link free bulky waste disposal with a reduction in fly-tipping. Even the Conservative Hampshire County Council acknowledged that fly-tipping did not increase when it started to charge for DIY waste. Just as it is clear that there is not one cause of fly-tipping, so it follows that there is not one answer.

This is a complex problem that needs a number of different approaches. Crucially, it needs to be led by Government, not by cash-strapped councils. We need a national strategy to combat fly-tipping, which will bring together the Environment Agency, councils, Keep Britain Tidy, waste disposal authorities and other stakeholders to crack this problem once and for all.

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

I thank the hon. Member for securing this important debate. The Environment Agency found that 86% of farmers have been affected by fly-tipping this year. However, many of those incidents are not reported because the reporting process is time-consuming, confusing and frustrating, and it does not stack up for farmers to do it. So they clear the waste themselves. Does the hon. Member agree that a single reporting mechanism needs to be developed to help farmers and land managers? I appreciate that the hon. Member is leading a very urban debate, but I think that the mechanism is important. A single mechanism should be in place so that a fly-tip should have to be reported only once.

[Deirdre Costigan]

I thank the hon. Member for her intervention. As she has said, Ealing Southall is certainly not a rural area of the country. However, my father’s family are from Tipperary, and they were farmers; I do appreciate, and am well aware, of the cost of fly-tipping to farmers in particular. As it is on private land, they are, in most cases, liable for the costs of removal themselves. It is a massive issue, and I do hope that we will hear from others today on that issue. Certainly, there is more that we can do on reporting because, as I said earlier, the reports that we currently have are only the tip of the iceberg as a lot of communities just do not report.

Having gone through the problems and realised that the solutions are complex, what solutions do I feel should be included in the national strategy? To combat the organised criminals, we need a national fly-tip investigation team. Why should environmental crime not be taken as seriously as other types of organised crime? We need national financial investigators who can use proceeds of crime laws to go after the assets of these criminals and hit them in their pockets, where it really hurts.

We also need sentencing guidelines to be reviewed so that the courts do not continue to allow fly-tippers to get away with it. We need to reform the waste carrier licensing scheme so that it is worth the paper that it is written on. We need stronger rules for bins when houses are broken up into flats; I am delighted that Ealing council is introducing a new requirement for planning permission for HMOs—houses in multiple occupation. But we need to ensure that waste facilities are rigorously assessed as part of landlord licensing schemes and before permission is given for flat conversions, and that councils have the funding to carry out those inspections.

Flood Defences: West Worcestershire

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Wednesday 24th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dame Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker, and what a pleasure you have had in listening to such an excellent array of maiden speeches this afternoon. I thank Mr Speaker for allocating me one of the first Adjournment debates in this new Parliament.

My speech will be more of a reiteration of certain points and less of a novelty, as I was lucky enough to get an Adjournment debate on the same flood defences at the beginning of the last Parliament. During that winter, we suffered not only from coronavirus but from Storms Ciara and Dennis.

I congratulate the floods Minister, the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice (Emma Hardy), on her appointment. She and I were colleagues on the Treasury Committee, and I know how passionately and genuinely she cares about flooding issues, so I look forward to working with her.

My constituency is in a part of the world that floods frequently, and we realise that we will flood a lot in West Worcestershire. We have the River Severn running through the middle of the constituency, and the Rivers Avon and Teme flow into the Severn just south of Worcester, so we accept that flooding is a part of nature and part of what we have in West Worcestershire.

In the years that I have been fortunate enough to represent the area in Parliament, and before, I have tried to mitigate some of the problems that arise from being in a very flood-prone part of the world. Last winter, we again saw how difficult it can be when there is a very wet winter. Many local farmers, residents and businesses were very grateful for funding from the flood recovery fund after Storms Babet and Henk.

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

Rural areas are often the worst impacted by flood damage, yet they are often deemed less of a priority for flood defences than urban areas. Does the hon. Lady agree that the flood defence grant in aid cost-benefit analysis must be reviewed to ensure it sufficiently values agricultural and rural communities?

[Dame Harriett Baldwin]

The hon. Lady highlights something that I have grappled with throughout my time as a Member of Parliament.

I will now move on to the situation in Tenbury Wells in my constituency. Seventeen years ago this month, in the middle of summer, we had the most severe flooding for many, many years. It caused massive damage and misery across West Worcestershire. In fact, it was the right hon. Member for Leeds South (Hilary Benn) who was the Environment Minister at the time. In 2007, he came to see the devastation in Tenbury Wells. It was at that time that I first started to look into these cost-benefit analyses and the formula that the hon. Lady raised. While accepting that, in West Worcestershire, we will flood regularly, I think that there are many things we can do to mitigate the misery of being flooded, and of being flooded regularly.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dame Harriett Baldwin]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. He points to a fact that I acknowledge: cumulatively, we have become more resilient to flooding in West Worcestershire over the last 14 years, but there are still these two schemes. That was going to be my next question to the Minister: will she confirm that the new Government will continue with the same level of spending that my hon. Friend mentioned? Is there anything that I could do, other than leading debates such as this and meeting with the chief executive of the Environment Agency, that would help locally to unblock any of the issues?

I know that these schemes, particularly the one in Tenbury Wells, are complicated. I just want the Environment Agency to be able to find its way through the obstacles. The local community knows that in order to make the omelette that is the flood defences of Tenbury Wells, a few eggs will need to be broken, with a few road closures at times and potentially some loss of road space down some side roads. I just want to say on behalf of the community that it is prepared to put up with that level of inconvenience and some traffic disruption for a while in order to protect its beautiful town. As can be seen from the other examples in West Worcestershire that I have mentioned, particularly Upton upon Severn, the long-term benefit of protecting the town is immeasurable.

Will the Minister join me in an effort of shared persistence and determination to protect these two communities by finally getting the two schemes built, preferably before the inevitable arrival of the next serious floods? Finally, will she confirm that she will press ahead with the expanded offer of the farming recovery fund? Farmers in my constituency and elsewhere think it is very important that the offer includes those who experienced damage due to extreme rainfall, and not just those who experienced flooded land.

[Sarah Dyke]

On that point, will the hon. Lady give way?

Biodiversity Loss

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Wednesday 15th May 2024 Westminster Hall

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

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms Rees. I congratulate the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) on securing this important debate. England was once a country brimming with wildlife, from bees and butterflies to birds and beavers, but within a few generations everything has changed. Now, time spent in the countryside is often a different experience. The landscape may be green, but it is all but empty. Biodiversity is decreasing: the World Wildlife Fund’s “Living Planet” report in 2022 found that wildlife populations had decreased by an average of 69% in the past 50 years.

I am proud to come from Somerset. The county is well known for its stunning nature and diverse range of landscapes, from the Mendip hills to the Somerset levels and moors. Somerset is also proud to be home to many farming communities, but we are really susceptible to the effects of climate change because of the county’s low-lying moorland. We have witnessed heavy flooding over recent years. It is all having a devastating impact on our communities and our wildlife.

Farming and biodiversity are intertwined. It is of the utmost importance that hard-working farmers are supported in their efforts to protect and increase biodiversity. Intensive agriculture has been a key driver of biodiversity loss, but that must change. Part of tackling those problems begins by making sure that British farmers get a fair deal and are adequately supported in their efforts to increase biodiversity, because if British farms are financially secure, they can do more to protect nature. That is why the Liberal Democrats would add £1 billion to the ELMS budget to help farms and nature thrive.

Communities are taking action. I am looking forward to the inaugural LandAlive sustainable food and farming conference at the Bath and West showground in November. I have met many farmers across my constituency who have demonstrated to me the benefits that biodiversity brings to their farms, such as the protection of the shrill carder bee, which was once widespread in the south of England but is now limited to just five areas in my constituency around Somerton and Castle Cary. Recorded numbers highlight their decline: just seven were recorded in 2022. Bee numbers are affected by climate change, flooding, loss of genetic diversity and pesticide usage.

Despite this fall in numbers, the Government have authorised the emergency use of damaging neonic pesticides for the fourth year in a row. The national pollinator strategy is due for renewal this year. I hope the Government listen to the criticism of the current strategy and implement a more comprehensive approach that considers the impact on all pollinator species.

I echo the calls for a national invertebrate strategy. Habitat destruction is one of the greatest threats that insects face—for instance, 97% of all flower-rich grassland has been lost in the past 50 years—but local action can be taken to restore diverse habitats. One such measure is the creation of a new 460-acre nature reserve near Bruton called Heal Somerset, which aims to tackle the nature and climate crises while creating new jobs for local people and businesses, alongside designing and delivering projects with the local community. This rewilding project will increase insect numbers and encourage the growth of more plants, including new saplings, while bringing a greater abundance and diversity of species.

The Liberal Democrats want to support such initiatives by introducing a nature Act that would restore the land’s natural environment by setting legally binding near and long-term targets for improving water, air and soil biodiversity. Protecting biodiversity requires action that protects and proliferates best practice among all who use the land. A rapid transition that supports British farmers, builds strong, long-term food security, restores biodiversity and ensures we all reach our net zero targets is crucial.

Agriculture

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Monday 13th May 2024 Commons Chamber

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

I declare an interest as my family are sixth-generation farmers in Somerset, with my brother still farming.

The Liberal Democrats support the shift from basic payments to the ELM scheme, but I am still desperately worried about the general lack of support from this Government for British farmers. I am not alone. I have spoken to farmers right across my constituency, from North Barrow to Muchelney, who have all raised with me their fears about the industry. They want to farm. They want to rear animals. They want to grow crops. But the landscape is becoming more and more difficult for them to produce food for our tables. Tomorrow’s annual Farm to Fork summit will focus on UK food security, a topic I have spoken about here many times.

However, as the House will know, one of the major risks to national food security will be the loss of British farmers and agricultural businesses. There has been a long-term downward trend in the number of farms in the UK, with a staggering 110,000 closing their gates for the last time since 1990. Climate change continues to be strongly felt by British farmers—and nowhere more than in Somerset, a county that is so often at the forefront of it. The last 18 months have been the wettest since records began, and that, alongside squeezed margins and the reduction of support, has left many farmers on a cliff edge. The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board and the Soil Association have recently warned that many farmers are on the brink of quitting because of the enormous financial and mental strain.

Not long ago, I met a farmer in my constituency who farms near Langport. He told me that his land had been flooded for nearly six months over the winter, that that had cost him thousands of pounds in lost crops and water draining, and that it would limit his ability to use the land for grazing his cattle during the summer. However, it is not this year but next year that he will feel the financial impact of the winter flooding. He has been forced to turn out his cattle early on to grazing land that simply has not recovered from those floods. As a result, he will not be able to make silage from the fields, and will be forced to reduce his herd by half next year because he will be unable to make enough food to feed his stock during the winter months. He understands that farming land must sometimes be sacrificed to flooding in order to save thousands of homes further down the river catchment, but he should be able to realise compensation as a consequence; the alternative will be to risk losing his business. He told me that following the end of basic payments and the limited options available within the sustainable farming incentive scheme, the farm is solely dependent on income from agriculture to cover the lost earnings due to flooding.

Farmers in Somerset are fully aware that flooding is only likely to increase over the coming years, and will probably last longer and cause more damage, but it is not just in Somerset that this problem is felt; it is a nationwide problem. Farmers need to be resilient, and they need proper public support for providing public goods. I implore the Minister to listen to Liberal Democrat calls to raise the ELMS budget by £1 billion immediately, so that farmers can be properly rewarded and helped to make the transition to environmentally sustainable farming. Such calls have also been made by key industry stakeholders such as the Nature Friendly Farming Network. Raising the budget, while also introducing a range of other public funds for public goods schemes and specified support for farmers in lowland flood areas such as Somerset, could provide a major boost to the nation’s food security. We need to ensure that those who provide the nation’s food are properly supported, and we need to recognise that the crisis affecting the farming sector requires urgent action.

I look forward to attending the Farm Safety Foundation’s annual conference next week, when it will celebrate its 10th birthday. The conference will focus on mental wellbeing within the sector, and on building resilience for the future of farming. The biggest causes of mental strain in farming are the spiralling costs, environmental pressure and uncertainty over the future following Brexit. Up to 94% of UK farmers under 40 say that mental ill health is one of the biggest hidden problems that they face from day to day. The Liberal Democrats want to provide funding for the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service to help farmers with transitions, giving them greater certainty and assurance. So far, the Government have been unwilling to provide that support.

As we heard earlier from my hon. Friend the Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), DEFRA had a £170 million underspend on the farming and countryside programme last year. Farming businesses operate on a multi-year planning cycle, so they have a desire for predictability and steady cash flow. Without that, many are left without the security that they need, and without such security, the future of British farming is left unsecured, along with the nation’s food security.

In this continued transition period, I urge the Government to increase support for our farmers and give them the financial predictability that they need to invest in their businesses and go on producing food for our tables, while also protecting our precious environment.

Single-use Plastics

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Thursday 25th April 2024 Commons Chamber

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

Cheap and disposable single-use plastics have become a symbol of our throwaway culture—they are cheap, convenient and now pervade every part of our lives—but that also means that they have contaminated every part of our environment, where they take centuries to break down. They often break down into tiny microplastics that are having a catastrophic impact on biodiversity and human health.

Plastics can be found in ever-increasing quantities everywhere, from the top of Mount Everest to the deep ocean trench. The UK produces the second highest amount of plastic waste per capita, with supermarkets producing 900,000 tonnes of plastic every year at the last count. With production increasing, that figure is set to rise.

The UK public have long been ahead of politicians on this issue and have proven time and again their deep concern for the plastics crisis and their determination to find solutions. That was highlighted most recently in a massive citizen science project, the Big Plastic Count, run by Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic. More than 220,000 individuals and schoolchildren agreed to count their plastic for a week, to record the scale of the problem and find out where their waste was being disposed of. Fifty MPs also signed up to take part, and I was proud to be one of them.

The project uncovered that the UK throws away 1.7 billion pieces of plastic every year, but only 17% of that is recycled. The vast majority—58% of it—is burned in UK incinerators, which are often located in deprived neighbourhoods, producing toxic air pollution and often more greenhouse gases per tonne burned than coal. That is a shocking statistic, and a large part of why the plastics industry is contributing such a huge amount to climate change. The industry now produces more greenhouse gases than the entire aviation industry.

Time and again, surveys have confirmed the strength of public feeling when it comes to plastics, and in particular their frustration with single-use plastics. A study by the University of Birmingham earlier this year found the UK public to be more concerned about the threat to society posed by plastic pollution than the coronavirus pandemic or future pandemics, terrorism, economic collapse, natural disasters or artificial intelligence. Plastic-related issues top the list of environmental problems that the UK public want to tackle—plastic in the ocean is first, and the amount produced is second.

A different poll found that 74% of UK residents agreed that, to stop plastic pollution, we need to cut plastic production. When we look globally, it is clear that the problem has grown out of control: global plastic production doubled between 2000 and 2019, and it is anticipated nearly to triple by 2050. A study that came out this week projected that the plastics industry will consume 21% to 26% more of the Earth’s remaining carbon budget to keep warming below 1.5°C—and that was a conservative estimate.

All that means, of course, is that we must design a solution that is appropriate for the enormity of the problem at hand. That means a solution that is global, which requires international co-operation; one that forces companies and Governments to change their behaviour, and one that addresses plastic pollution across its full life cycle from extraction to disposal.

As we speak, countries around the world are attending the fourth round of the United Nations negotiations to try to agree a plastics treaty, but that process currently hangs in the balance. Oil producing countries and fossil fuel and chemical companies are out in force at the negotiations, using all their power, resources and wealth to try to obstruct the process and prevent any deal that would put a limit on the amount of plastic that gets produced. For those companies, the plastics industry represents a lifeline as the world looks to replace oil and gas as an energy source. The global plastics treaty needs to secure a global, legally binding target to cut plastic production radically.

The Liberal Democrats are serious about tackling the problem. We want to end plastic exports by 2030. In a previous Session, my right hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) introduced a Bill that would have set a 2025 target to end non-essential single-use plastics as well as a statutory long-term target to cut plastic waste and pollution significantly by 2042 by phasing out all but the most essential use of plastic. I am deeply concerned that the Government targets on plastic pollution, as set out in the Environment Act 2021, will not be enforced until 2037, leaving the Government 13 years to delay taking action. We are pushing for punitive measures for the Government if they do not achieve the targets.

While the Government say some of the right things on the plastics treaty, we have yet to see confirmation that they will push for a genuinely ambitious outcome, particularly on plastic production. To be clear, the Government have announced their intention to “restrain and reduce” plastic production, but they must go much further and call for a radical target for reduction. They also must provide explicit confirmation that such a target should be legally binding, rather than leaving each country to decide voluntarily how much it will do and when, and they must confirm that such a target should address every single form of plastic production without loopholes, not just those containing the most harmful and toxic elements. The absolute priority in the negotiations is that we must stop the problem at source. That will make our air cleaner, and our parks, green spaces and beaches free from plastic. It will protect wildlife and biodiversity, and help us stay within 1.5°C of global warming.

Although it is crucial to recognise the importance of tackling the issue on a global scale, I would also like to recognise some of the important actions we can take at home. In my constituency we are incredibly lucky to have the Carymoor Environmental Trust, which works to educate children on the impacts of waste on the environment. It runs a session called “fantastic plastic” which looks at the environmental impacts of plastic and ways to avoid single-use plastics. Since 2018 the project has worked with over 58,000 children in Somerset. Since 1996, Carymoor has regenerated 80 acres of a capped landfill site into a beautiful nature reserve and welcomes around 100 schools a year to its visitor centre, where it gives advice on using reusable containers for drinks instead of single-use plastic alternatives.

That wonderful example of local educational work needs to be supplemented by Government policy, and I have been pleased by some of the Government’s intentions. Their reformed extended producer responsibility system will put the full cost of collecting, sorting, recycling and disposing of household packaging waste on producers rather than local authorities. It is a step in the right direction, despite being hampered by delays meaning it will not begin until at least March 2025. Local authorities will also be required to collect flexible plastics and films from household waste by March 2027.

Somerset has been preparing for the introduction of these new waste regulations and recently Somerset Council has taken part in a flexible plastics trial. As a proud serving Somerset councillor, I was very pleased by its success. Around 3,600 properties around Frome in my constituency took part and each household was provided with blue transparent bags in which to present their flexible plastic waste. The response has been positive, with over 65% of residents regularly participating in the trial. Just under 500 kg of material was captured each week. If we consider the light weight of this type of plastic, we get an idea of the sheer volume of it that is used each week.

The take-up of the trial demonstrates that there is an appetite among residents to increase their recycling output, and polling from Reloop has found that 83% of the British public express very high levels of support for recycling. However, one issue is the UK’s current lack of suitable recycling infrastructure for flexible plastics. They are expensive to recycle and more work is required on the end-market side to create the infrastructure to make this type of recycling work. Assurances from Government on the cost and support available for local authorities and for industry will help to ensure moves in this direction are a success.

Returning to the recent Big Plastic Count, one participating constituent in Frome told me that they would use 2,000 individual pieces of single-use plastic a year and that it is mostly food packaging. I would like legislation to oblige supermarkets to sell more loose food, which would dramatically reduce unnecessary plastic waste. That would have the twin benefit of cutting down on food waste, as it would encourage consumers to buy what they need, rather than big, pre-packaged bags of fruit and veg. Farmers could also reduce their costly pre-farmgate food waste, which is created when supermarkets mandate certain sizes for fruit and vegetables to fit into their plastic packaging.

The Liberal Democrats have been calling for a ban on non-recyclable single-use plastics. We want to replace them with affordable alternatives, aiming for complete elimination within three years. In my constituency, famers have started to look at ways in which they can eliminate their usage of single-use plastics. For example, Tytherington Milk Station, near Frome, operates four milk vending machines—one at the farm in Tytherington, one in Frome, one just outside my constituency in Warminster, and another in Bath—supplying their customers directly, and reducing the farm’s carbon footprint by reducing plastic waste through the use of refillable glass bottles. My constituency is also home to Bruton Dairy, which started to use steel milk churns in a bid to cut down the amount of plastic used. That has proved so successful that over a 12-month period, the dairy sent out more than 200,000 litres of milk in its churns. Innovations and initiatives of that kind should be celebrated and supported.

Let me now turn to an announcement that the Government made earlier today. Having waited since 2018, when they first announced their intention to launch a deposit return scheme, we have now heard their plans. Polling for Reloop found that 69% of the public supported the introduction of a deposit return scheme, and that 89% believed that the Government had at least a fair amount of responsibility for recycling. Despite the lengthy delays, I welcome the fact that the Government have listened to the public, along with Liberal Democrat support for an all-in deposit scheme, and I hope the Minister will say a little about the scheme in his response.

However, yet again the Government are looking to move too slowly: the scheme is not expected to come into operation until 2027, although international best practice has shown that 18 months should be sufficient to establish such a system. It could potentially save about £11 billion, given the social cost of litter and given higher recycling rates, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 0.46 million tonnes a year by 2032. In the light of those benefits, it is vital for the Government to move fast in delivering this long-awaited scheme. I am also disappointed that they have failed to honour their 2019 manifesto commitment to include glass bottles in such a scheme, but I guess that that promise was made five DEFRA Secretaries of State ago.

The scale of the plastic problem that we face is huge, but I believe we have the tools at our disposal to tackle it. The Government have made the right noises, but now is the time to act, both on the international stage and at home. We know of the devastating impact that climate change and plastic pollution have on our environment, so we must address it as a matter of urgency. The Government have been slow to act in the past, and I hope they will now recognise the urgency that is needed. The UK must take its place as one of the leaders in the global movement to reduce our reliance on single- use plastics, and I hope that through the successful implementation of the measures I have discussed today, we will take important steps forward.