Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of school milk consumption on children’s oral health, including rates of dental decay.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Water and milk are the only recommended drinks to give children regarding their oral health. Milk and dairy foods, or dairy alternatives, are an important part of a healthy balanced diet, as depicted by the United Kingdom’s national food model, the Eatwell Guide. The School Food Standards state that lower fat milk and lactose-reduced milk must be available every school day, during school hours. Whole milk may be provided for pupils up to the end of the school year in which they turn five years old. Sugars naturally present in unsweetened milk and milk products are not classed as ‘free sugars’, which should be limited to reduce the risk of tooth decay. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-types/how-does-sugar-in-our-diet-affect-our-health/
We have invested £11 million in 147 local authorities in 2025/26, alongside a five-year partnership with Colgate-Palmolive, to rollout a national supervised toothbrushing programme for up to 600,000 three- to five-year-olds in the 20% most deprived areas of England. The programme will tackle poor oral health by ensuring children learn positive habits and prevention of tooth decay.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when representatives from her Department last met with milk producers to discuss farmgate milk prices.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials regularly engage with stakeholders from across the UK dairy industry on a wide range of issues including farmgate milk prices. Engagement is undertaken in various forms including through ad hoc and regular meetings with industry bodies and individual dairy businesses and milk producers, farm visits and attendance at industry events.
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Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the average cost of producing a pint of milk in each of the last five years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The average cost of production for milk is shown below. Data is from the Farm Business Survey which covers farm businesses in England with a Standard Output of more than £21,000. Whilst it captures the majority of agricultural activity, it excludes smaller businesses (which account for 2% of output).
Production costs include all financial aspects of dairy enterprises such as unpaid labour, herd depreciation and an estimated rental equivalent for owned land. An allowance is also made for non-milk revenue (mostly the sale of dairy calves), which is applied as a reduction to cost. This reflects the value of by-products from milk production. The production costs therefore represent the price that would have to be paid on all milk produced for dairy enterprises to break even. The data includes organic production which is likely to incur higher production costs.
Average cost of milk production (pence per litre) 2020/21 to 2024/25
2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
28.3 | 36.4 | 48.6 | 44.2 | 44.9 |
Source: Farm Accounts in England
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average farmgate milk price was in each of the last five years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra publishes monthly and annual milk prices on GOV.UK (Latest UK milk prices and composition of milk - GOV.UK). UK annual farmgate milk prices for the last five years are shown in the table below.
Table: UK annual farmgate milk prices 2021-2025, pence per litre (ppl)
Year | Price (ppl) |
2021 | 31.07 |
2022 | 43.98 |
2023 | 39.50 |
2024 | 41.17 |
2025 | 44.05 |
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made on the potential impact of restricting bird sales through changes to bird show and gathering licences for (a) breeding Type Canaries and (b) protecting Britain’s native wild canary population.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. Detailed risk assessments can be found on Gov.UK.
As legislation requires this to be a risk-based decision, assessments of the financial or breeding impacts have not been made. The restrictions on certain types of gatherings do not prevent direct sales of breeding birds or their progeny from a breeder’s own premises. There are no native wild canary populations in Britain.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential financial impact of the changes to bird show and gathering licences for (a) bird breeders, (b) seed merchants and (c) cage makers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. Detailed risk assessments can be found on Gov.UK.
As legislation requires this to be a risk-based decision, assessments of the financial or breeding impacts have not been made. The restrictions on certain types of gatherings do not prevent direct sales of breeding birds or their progeny from a breeder’s own premises. There are no native wild canary populations in Britain.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the single-year funding arrangement for the School Milk Subsidy Scheme on the financial sustainability of the school milk dairy supply chain.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter, and this response applies to England only.
The School Milk Subsidy Scheme is available in participating schools and supports the provision of milk, certain milk products and yoghurts.
The administration of the scheme is renewed regularly, and funding decisions are made on a single or multi-year basis, influenced by the timing and the duration of departmental spending reviews.
The volume of milk consumed under the scheme annually accounts for less than 1% of total UK milk production. It therefore has limited impact on the financial sustainability of those in the dairy supply chain who participate in the scheme.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment the Department has made of the potential impact of the expansion of free school meal eligibility from 2026 on the level of demand for school milk; and what steps are being taken to ensure adequate provision.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is a legislative requirement that milk is provided free of charge to children who meet the free school meal criteria.
We are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This new entitlement will mean over 500,000 of the most disadvantaged children will begin to access free meals putting £500 back in families’ pockets.
We have set aside over £1 billion in funding over the multi-year spending review period to cover additional meal costs. This includes milk. This is on top of £1.5 billion we already spend annually supporting schools to deliver free school meals and milk.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department is taking steps to provide small scale flower farmers with standard industrial classification codes; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on helping to (a) track economic activity, (b) track industry trends and (c) provide information to her Department on the contributions of ecology to the economy.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 12th January is attached.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Environment Agency has made of the impact of historic highway drainage systems on downstream flooding and water pollution.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Environment Agency (EA) water quality monitoring programmes identify where ‘urban and transport’ inputs are having a potential impact on a waterbody. Water quality monitoring data is publicly available here: Water Data Explorer | Engage Environment Agency. Highways authorities should address outfalls with the potential to pollute.
Water and sewerage companies in England and Wales are currently developing their first statutory Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs), due to be published in 2027/28. These strategic plans identify risks to the companies’ drainage and sewerage networks and set out solutions for how those risks will be mitigated, including environmental risks, which could have implications for highways inputs.
The EA also works with National Highways to assess the impacts of highway drainage on downstream flooding and water quality. They are working together to deliver actions in the National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) Strategy Roadmap. This includes delivering multi-benefit, nature-based solutions that reduce flood risk, improve water quality and enhance biodiversity. The EA supports this through its flood investment programmes, catchment partnerships and use of national flood risk mapping to help target priority locations and future investment.