Speeches by Dyke.

“Moving on to pollution incidents being at an unacceptable level, do Ofwat and the Environment Agency need to work more closely together to ensure that companies take these incidents seriously enough to tackle them?”

“Do you think that the use of self-reporting by water companies undermines the robustness of the data that you are getting back in?”

“How are you looking to improve the transparency of the data that is provided by water companies, given that Thames Water has recently been fined £3.3 million after a deliberate attempt to mislead the Environment Agency?”

“I have a specifically Somerset question. In May 2023, Natural England changed the condition status of the Somerset Levels’ SSSIs to unfavourable and declining due to poor water quality from a combination of domestic, agricultural and sewage waste in rivers. That was on top of the letter that we received in August 2020,…”

“There are 27 former Ofwat directors, managers and consultants who are now working in the water industry, creating a potential concern around conflict of interest. Do you do you share that?”

“I thank the Secretary of State for her statement. Some 13% of jobs in Somerset are in manufacturing, and many of them are in the defence industry—in Thales in Templecombe, RNAS Yeovilton in my constituency, or Leonardo nearby. The manufacturing industry contributes £1.87 billion to our local economy, which is more than…”

“I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and agree that the UK must show global leadership on climate action. Peatlands are the largest natural terrestrial carbon store, yet damaged peatlands are responsible for almost 5% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. The UK imports 60% of peat used in horticulture, of…”

“Moving on to pollution incidents being at an unacceptable level, do Ofwat and the Environment Agency need to work more closely together to ensure that companies take these incidents seriously enough to tackle them?”

“Do you think that the use of self-reporting by water companies undermines the robustness of the data that you are getting back in?”

“How are you looking to improve the transparency of the data that is provided by water companies, given that Thames Water has recently been fined £3.3 million after a deliberate attempt to mislead the Environment Agency?”

“I have a specifically Somerset question. In May 2023, Natural England changed the condition status of the Somerset Levels’ SSSIs to unfavourable and declining due to poor water quality from a combination of domestic, agricultural and sewage waste in rivers. That was on top of the letter that we received in August 2020,…”

“Residents across Somerset are once again feeling incredibly anxious. Parts of Glastonbury and Somerton saw 130 mm of rain during Storm Bert over the weekend, which has placed additional strain on our ageing flood defence network. Does the Secretary of State agree that, because of the increasing frequency and severity o…”

“There is a significant disparity in sentencing for murder based on whether a weapon was taken to the scene of a domestic crime or was already present. Sentences for murderers who used a weapon already available at the crime scene start 10 years lower than sentences for those who brought a weapon with them. Does the Min…”

“I thank the hon. Member for bringing forward this important debate. The last Government oversaw soaring rates of plastic incineration, and delays to modest waste reforms such as deposit return schemes, while also refusing to support proposals to cut plastic production by 40% by 2040, which were put forward at the last …”

“My constituent Catherine Conway is the founder of GoUnpackaged, the world’s first modern zero-waste shop, which is hugely reducing the use of single-use plastics. She is also part of the Refill Coalition, which is developing and testing a standardised solution to deliver refills at scale in store and online. Does the h…”

“I thank the right hon. Member for securing this important debate. Some 6.9% of young people in Somerset are believed to be not in education, employment or training, which is higher than the national average of 5.5%. Does he agree that the Government should not only improve the quality of vocational education, but stren…”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. I also live far away from Norfolk, but Somerset obviously has a record of flooding—in fact, it is named Somerset because it was the county where people lived in summer. Environment Agency data shows that 2,692 properties in my constituency are at risk of …”

“Carymoor Environmental Trust in my constituency runs fantastic plastic sessions and has educated over 58,000 children in Somerset about the environmental impact of plastic and about ways to avoid single-use plastic. Does the Minister agree that the best way to avoid single-use plastic is to deliver a global plastics tr…”

“I particularly want to know about the assessment you have made of vet shortages and how you will work across Government to tackle that problem. How will you achieve a potential veterinary agreement with the EU?”

“Secretary of State, do you feel that farmers will feel incentivised to innovate, given the decision in the Budget?”