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 recent discussions his Department has had with farming organisations on subsidies for beekeeping.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Figures from the annual hive count suggests that the number of beekeepers has remained relatively stable and is not declining. Defra supports beekeepers through the work of the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit which operates our bee pest surveillance programmes and provides free training and advice to beekeepers, including on pest and disease recognition. Effective pest and disease control is important for preventing spread to other apiaries and pollinators.
Defra supports pollinators through the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Landscape Recovery, in that the schemes offer a choice of support for more regenerative approaches to farming, and creation or restoration of habitats in appropriate areas. We are working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future SFI offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding, and further information about the reformed SFI will be provided shortly.
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 recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing vaccination as part of the national bovine TB control strategy.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
An assessment of the potential merits of vaccination was made by a reconvened panel of independent experts, led by Professor Sir Charles Godfray. The panel’s updated report, published on 4 September 2025, considered the latest evidence on both cattle and badger vaccination, and will inform the development of the refreshed bovine TB strategy for England.
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 recent steps his Department is taking to support communities affected by extreme weather in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The preparation for, response to and recovery from extreme weather sits across a number of organisations, including the Cabinet Office, UK Health and Security Agency, and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. As the Lead Government Department for flooding, Defra works with partners across local and national Government to strengthen preparedness for flooding.
In 2024, Defra established the Floods Resilience Taskforce, a collaborative initiative uniting all levels of Government, emergency services, businesses, and environmental groups to improve flood preparedness. Over the past 12 months, the taskforce has helped drive improvements to national flood modelling and forecasting, the communication of flood warnings, and has raised awareness of schemes to support those affected by flooding. The fourth meeting in September discussed preparedness for the 2025 autumn/winter period.
Following the wettest winter on record, the Environment Agency is investing £5 million to protect 444 properties in West Dorset, maintaining key assets, supporting coastal projects, improving property flood resilience, and working with partners on natural flood management and coastal risk response.
Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) in England are tasked with coordinating local emergency preparedness, including extreme weather events. West Dorset is represented on the Dorset LRF as part of the Dorset Councils Partnership. The Dorset LRF Community Risk Register, which includes local risk assessments for extreme weather events in Dorset, can be found here.
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 recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of extreme weather events on West Dorset.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The preparation for, response to and recovery from extreme weather sits across a number of organisations, including the Cabinet Office, UK Health and Security Agency, and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. As the Lead Government Department for flooding, Defra works with partners across local and national Government to strengthen preparedness for flooding.
In 2024, Defra established the Floods Resilience Taskforce, a collaborative initiative uniting all levels of Government, emergency services, businesses, and environmental groups to improve flood preparedness. Over the past 12 months, the taskforce has helped drive improvements to national flood modelling and forecasting, the communication of flood warnings, and has raised awareness of schemes to support those affected by flooding. The fourth meeting in September discussed preparedness for the 2025 autumn/winter period.
Following the wettest winter on record, the Environment Agency is investing £5 million to protect 444 properties in West Dorset, maintaining key assets, supporting coastal projects, improving property flood resilience, and working with partners on natural flood management and coastal risk response.
Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) in England are tasked with coordinating local emergency preparedness, including extreme weather events. West Dorset is represented on the Dorset LRF as part of the Dorset Councils Partnership. The Dorset LRF Community Risk Register, which includes local risk assessments for extreme weather events in Dorset, can be found here.
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, when he will make a decision on the deployment of the cattle BCG vaccine.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are continuing to work on the development of a cattle BCG vaccine and accompanying DIVA (Detect Infected amongst Vaccinated Animals) test but will only deploy the vaccine and DIVA test when we have all the right steps in place. Our aim is to deliver an effective cattle TB vaccination strategy within the next few years, helping drive down the disease burden for future generations and advance progress towards achieving Officially Tuberculosis Free status for England by 2038.
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, when he expects the field trials of the Cattle BCG vaccine to conclude.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Field trials to test a cattle BCG vaccine and accompanying DIVA (Detect Infected amongst Vaccinated Animals) skin test began in June 2021. The next phase of the field trials commenced in September 2025, and we hope to be able to start using an authorised vaccine and companion diagnostic test within the next few years.
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, he will make it is his policy to introduce measures to ensure that supermarket contracts support (a) traditional and (b) vertical farmers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It would not be appropriate for Government to comment on, or intervene in, matters relating to contracts between producers and retailers. These are driven by commercial interests, based on supply and demand.
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 his Department plans to take steps to amend the regulation of genome-edited crops.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has been undertaking a programme of regulatory reform for precision breeding.
The Precision Breeding Act 2023 sets out a more proportionate and science-based regulatory framework for precision breeding that encourages innovation and enables products to be brought to market more easily. The secondary legislation needed to implement The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 for plants in England was passed into law on 13 May 2025.
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 discussions his Department has had with (a) the Environment Agency and (b) Dorset Council on improving safety around cliffs in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works closely with Environment Agency officials at every level and provides constructive challenge and support on Environment Agency’s performance and delivery to protect and enhance the environment and serve the public.
The responsibility for public safety around cliffs and coastlines sits with the Local Authority. Local Authorities can use the most up to date data and information on the coast to assist with their planning and decision making. The new National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Map (NCERM) provides the most up to date national picture of current and future coastal erosion risk for England. The Environment Agency worked with Local Authorities, who supplied local data and verified outputs, to produce 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 plans he has to allocate additional funding for flood prevention in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is investing record levels in flood protection. As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, we are investing £4.2 billion over three years (2026/27 to 2028/29) to construct new flood schemes and maintain and repair existing defences across the country.
This is £1.4 billion on average each year – a 5% increase on the current average of £1.33 billion over 2024/25 and 2025/26.
The list of projects to receive Government funding will be consented on an annual basis through Regional Flood and Coastal Committees, with local representation.