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 steps her Department is taking to ensure that whole supply chain emissions reporting requires clear disclosure of gross emissions, and does not permit narrower Scope 1 and 2 reporting elsewhere in the chain to obscure the Scope 3 impacts of primary producers.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
While the framework for business climate reporting is a policy matter for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, Defra is working with industry to support a consistent and robust approach to climate reporting for the food and drink sector. Our Food Data Transparency Partnership is improving comparable emissions data across the supply chain, from farms to retailers, including around Scope 3 emissions accounting.
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 how the costs of emissions reductions in the dairy supply chain are distributed between producers, processors, retailers and consumers.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
While the Government has not undertaken a specific assessment of how the costs of dairy supply chain emissions reductions are distributed, we are committed to working with the whole food supply chain to reduce agricultural emissions to strengthen food security whilst supporting farm profitability. As part of this, we are supporting businesses to invest in their supply chains to improve resilience and sustainability, with financial benefits flowing to farmers.
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 financial support is available to farmers for protecting existing carbon stores such as peatland, permanent grassland, hedgerows, woodland and mature trees.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the information available on GOV.UK which outlines grant funding for peatland restoration and management (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-funding-boost-to-protect-englands-iconic-peatlands) and trees and woodland grants (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/where-to-find-grants-for-trees-and-woodland). Additionally, Environmental Land Management schemes include actions that support peatland, permanent grassland, hedgerows, woodland and mature trees.
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 steps her Department is taking to ensure that agricultural carbon reporting frameworks distinguish clearly between independently verified data, modelled estimates and elements that remain unquantified.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For farms businesses and agricultural products Defra is developing a standardised approach to carbon reporting. The work aims to establish robust methodologies and criteria for high-quality farm carbon assessments. It will improve the consistency and reliability of emissions data, enabling transparent and comparable greenhouse gas reporting for the agri-food system.
For UK territorial emissions Defra operates a world leading agricultural emissions accounting system, compliant with requirements set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. National emissions estimates are verified with real world measurements and modelled using science-based methodologies which are independently reviewed and publicly available.
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 merits of using GWP* alongside GWP100 to account for methane emissions from livestock, in order to reflect whether herd-level emissions are increasing, stable or declining over time.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the ongoing debate on how best to account for short-lived greenhouse gases such as methane. While GWP* can provide useful insights into methane's warming effects, it is not currently considered a suitable replacement for conventional emissions reporting metrics in agriculture. The GWP* concept of "no additional warming" risks implying that continued methane emissions are environmentally neutral and may weaken incentives for emissions reductions. GWP100 remains the internationally agreed metric for greenhouse gas reporting. The UK will continue to engage in international discussions and monitor emerging evidence, guided by the best available science and international consensus.
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 merits of recognising existing carbon stocks held in peatland, permanent pasture, hedgerows and woodland on farms, in addition to new annual carbon sequestration, within agricultural emissions accounting methodologies.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory accounts for greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration from managed land through the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector, alongside the agriculture sector. Together, these form the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) component of national greenhouse gas reporting.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of levels of economic cooperation with the EU on businesses.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The message we are getting from businesses is clear: they are facing more barriers and increased costs as a result of how we left the EU. For example, in a survey published by the British Chambers of Commerce in December 2025, more than half of its exporting members disagreed that the Trade and Cooperation Agreement was enabling their business to grow or increase sales.
The deals we are striking with the EU will bring down barriers that stop businesses trading and investing with our closest partner and biggest market. The food and drink deal and emissions trading agreements alone will add up to ÂŁ9 billion a year to the UK economy by 2040.
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 recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of average waiting times for Medical Examiner scrutiny of deaths since the statutory extension of the service to all deaths in England and Wales; and what steps she is taking to ensure Medical Examiner offices are adequately (a) staffed and (b) funded to meet demand.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answers provided to the Hon Member for Leeds South West and Morley on 8 July 2026 in response to Questions 15549, 15557, and 15558.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on average waiting times for appointments to register a death at register offices in England and Wales; and what assessment she has made of the impact of any delays on bereaved families, including in relation to continued payment of pensions and benefits pending registration.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Monitoring by the General Register Office for England and Wales shows good appointment availability to enable the registration of deaths within the 5-day statutory time period.
While no formal assessment has been made on the impact of delays on bereaved families, the Government’s work towards transforming the death registration process will allow the bereaved to register deaths remotely. This will further help to ensure that a death can be registered without delay, alongside minimising the burden on bereaved family members at a difficult time.
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 he has made of the adequacy of British Sign Language interpretation provision for deaf patients during emergency medical treatment, including for those who rely on cochlear implants and may be unable to communicate verbally in an emergency.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population, which includes responsibility for ensuring that there is adequate provision of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters to support deaf patients.
To facilitate clear and effective communication in emergency situations, individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired can utilise tools such as the 999BSL video relay platform, which is both app and web-based, to contact 999 via a BSL interpreter as well as access via emergency SMS messaging.
Video relay apps can also be used to support communication and face-to-face assessment by crews on scene at incidents, where, via on-board iPads, paramedics can connect patients with a remote BSL video interpreter. These resources, which are free to use and operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ensure that real-time communication is possible for BSL users when emergency and urgent assistance is required.
The BSL Advisory Board was established in 2023, to advise the Government on key issues impacting the Deaf community in their everyday life. On 27 November 2025, the BSL Advisory Board published a report titled Locked out: Exclusion of deaf and deafblind BSL users from health and social care in the UK, which is available at the following link:
The Government welcomed the report, and thanked the BSL Advisory Board for their work to improve the accessibility, inclusion, and the experiences of Deaf and Deafblind BSL users within the health and social care system. The board’s recommendations are informing work to implement the 10-Year Health Plan and reform adult social care so we can deliver improvements to the health, care, and experience of Deaf people.