Speeches by Dyke.

“The point is that if prices go up any further, patronage on buses will go down, and in rural areas we travel further and longer. It is difficult to incentivise people to use buses in rural areas, so we need to get this right, and increasing fares will not encourage more people to get out of their cars and on to public …”

“Absolutely I will, and I encourage all hon. Members to do exactly that. To summarise, I thank the Minister for his assurances. He knows that the Liberal Democrats will hold him to account. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the matter of improving public transport.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. That is vital for rural areas. I have excellent community transport providers in Glastonbury and Somerton: there is Wincanton community transport, and across Somerset we have the Slinky bus that provides on-demand services. They are crucial for people who need to get to surg…”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dame Siobhain. I thank the hon. Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) for securing this really important debate. We have heard about a range of biosecurity threats. Each of them has real potential to undermine our national security by disrupting our access to food,…”

“The shadow Minister says that Labour Members do not know any farmers—I do. I am proudly a sixth-generation farmer’s daughter. My brother still farms, but for how much longer I do not know. My dad died exactly a year ago today. My mum is a partner in the business, and she is now 81. My brother is not married and he live…”

“I rise to share my concerns about the unintended consequences of this tax hike on small businesses, GPs, social care providers and farm businesses. The arguments about the damage that the previous Government left are well rehearsed, and significant effort is needed to rebuild public services and repair public finances,…”

“Some 18,000 homes with planning permission across Somerset are waiting to be built, but nutrient neutrality issues, flood risk and the national shortage of planners are preventing or delaying the delivery of those much-needed homes. What discussions has the Minister had with Cabinet colleagues about fixing the issue an…”

“I thank the hon. Member for securing this important debate. There are around 3,000 reports of violence against women and girls made in Somerset every month and at least one in 12 women experience violence against them each year. Many of those incidents go unreported. A constituent of mine was sadly regularly physically…”

“After a case of domestic abuse, my constituent dealt with over two years of delay before eventually the CPS decided not to proceed with the case, as the perpetrator had not carried out any further cases. With that in mind, does the Minister agree that we must address delays in domestic abuse cases and referrals from th…”

“I thank the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) for securing this incredibly important debate. Violence against women and girls on trains has risen by 50%, and figures from the British Transport police show that over a third of women using the rail system are likely to be assaulted. That is clearly unac…”

“In 2020, Natural England notified Somerset councils that the phosphate levels in the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar site were too high, and thousands of homes are still caught in a moratorium. Alongside this, last year, there were 3,336 sewage spills in Glastonbury and Somerton, making it the most polluted constituen…”

“You mentioned that customer satisfaction is low and that there are enforcement issues around that. Why have the regulators failed to address weak performance?”

“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?”

“You mentioned that customer satisfaction is low and that there are enforcement issues around that. Why have the regulators failed to address weak performance?”

“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…”