The Government is supporting employment opportunities in Yeovil and across Somerset through its Industrial Strategy and investment in the region’s growth-driving sectors.

In Yeovil, Leonardo UK has been selected for a £1 billion contract to provide 23 new battlefield helicopters. The agreement supports 3,300 jobs at Leonardo’s Yeovil facility and sets up Yeovil as the company’s future centre of excellence for autonomous helicopters. Yeovil College has also been selected as a Defence Technical Excellence College.

Across Somerset, the Government is providing Agratas with a grant of up to £380 million, securing approximately £5 billion of private investment in its battery gigafactory near Bridgwater. The facility is expected to support around 4,200 jobs once fully operational. It is also supporting University College Somerset’s work with Agratas, to deliver training so people across Somerset have the practical, hands-on skills they need to seize the opportunities created by this investment. Somerset hosts two Technical Excellence Colleges: University Centre Somerset College Group, appointed as a Clean Energy Technical Excellence College, and Weston College (in North Somerset) appointed as an Advanced Manufacturing College. Together with Yeovil College, they are among 29 new Technical Excellence Colleges delivering high-quality training in key sectors, backed by £295 million of government investment over the course of this Parliament. This is in addition to wider skills and employment support, including the government’s £2.5bn youth employment package, which will help over 1 million young people by 2029.

The Government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those in vulnerable groups, and is committed to protecting access to cash for individuals and businesses.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) assumed regulatory responsibility for access to cash in September 2024. Its rules require reasonable access to cash withdrawal and deposit facilities for individuals and businesses, including free services for personal accounts.

Where a resident, community organisation or other interested party feels access to cash in their community is insufficient, they can submit a request for a cash access assessment. LINK, the independent industry coordinating body responsible for making access to cash assessments, will then assess a community’s access to cash needs, and will recommend appropriate solutions, including banking hubs, where it considers a community requires additional cash services.

The most recent FCA data shows 98.1 per cent of people in rural areas live within 3 miles of a free-to-use cash access point offering withdrawals.

In addition to access to cash, the Government is committed to ensuring that people who need in-person banking can continue to access essential services. The Government is aware of the public’s concerns around access to banking services, which are currently not protected in legislation. Whilst there is evidence on a local level of individuals being affected by the closure of bank branches, the Government needs robust evidence from across the UK.

That is why the Government commissioned an independent Review into Access to Banking Services, to assess whether changes to access to in-person banking services are causing consumer detriment and the scale of any detriment. Alongside the Review, the Financial Services and Markets Bill includes a power to allow the Government to take action in future to protect access to banking services, should this be necessary.

The Government understands the importance of banking services to communities, including those in rural and coastal areas and market towns, and continues to work closely with industry to support the roll-out of 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 280 hubs have been announced so far, and more than 240 are already open across the UK.

Banking hubs host community bankers from the main high street banks who can offer a wider range of services similar to those offered in branches, including fraud support. A list can be found here: https://www.cashaccess.co.uk/hubs/community-banker-services/

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 16 July to Question 13401.

Data on the number of deaths due to respiratory disease, as well as which were considered preventable, is available at the following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/respiratory-disease/data

Data is not available at a Parliamentary constituency level.

Paragraphs 82-84 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) set out how planning policies and decisions should apply in respect of rural housing.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on a new NPPF. That proposed Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, included policies relating to rural housing, protected landscapes, and the historic environment. We are currently analysing the feedback received to the consultation and will publish our response in due course.

In respect of brownfield land, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 128472 on 23 April 2026.

National Health Service organisations across Somerset, including the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and the NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board, have implemented a range of measures to help services manage periods of extreme heat and to protect patients, staff, and the public.

The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has enhanced its heatwave preparedness arrangements, drawing on learning from previous periods of hot weather. Actions include supporting staff welfare through flexible working arrangements where appropriate, additional uniforms, increased access to cooling equipment, clear staff communications on staying safe in hot weather, and support for community teams carrying out home visits.

To protect patients during extreme heat, the trust has provided cooler areas for patients waiting for treatment or discharge, prioritised ambulance offloads to minimise delays, issued regular advice to patients and the public on staying safe and accessing services appropriately, and undertaken proactive medication reviews for vulnerable patients where required.

NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board (ICB) currently has one women’s health hub operating, at Frome Medical Practice, in Frome. It offers long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), ring pessaries and menopause support.

In addition, there is a specialist menopause service for women in Somerset, which takes place in Glastonbury. The service is available via a general practice referral.

The primary care networks of Castle Cary and North Sedgemoor have LARC and ring pessary clinics for all practices. NHS Somerset ICB is working with primary care networks to develop a neighbourhood model to enhance the way women access a range of health services.

Our ambition is for all populated areas to have access to higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. This includes rural communities such as Oake, as well as towns and cities.

In their Connected Nations Spring update (13 May 2026), Ofcom reported that as of January 2026, 82% of the UK’s rural landmass has 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile operators, while standalone 5G is available outside of 76% of UK rural premises from at least one operator.

The rollout of higher quality standalone 5G is commercially led by the network operators, and all three have committed significant investment plans which align with the Government’s ambition. Government is undertaking a Mobile Market Review to assess what further action Government can take to support the sector to invest in comprehensive, high-quality connectivity; we expect to set out next steps later this year. Government also remains committed to unlocking the barriers to telecoms deployment, including supporting mobile network rollout through our recent call for evidence on planning reform in England. We are considering responses and will determine next steps in due course.

Alongside our work to deliver high-quality mobile connectivity right across the UK, we also have a target to deliver nationwide (99%) gigabit broadband coverage by 2032. We have created a competition-friendly environment in areas where deployment is commercially viable, as most gigabit-capable connections will be delivered commercially. Via Project Gigabit we are focusing Government funds on the remaining areas of the country, to tackle gaps in broadband coverage where commercial deployment is unlikely, in support of the Government’s target.

Through the Good Food Cycle, published in July 2025, we are working across Government to create a healthier, more affordable, sustainable, and resilient food system, including improving access to safe, affordable, healthy and convenient food options for all.

We will continue to work with partners across the food system to consider how we can better support local and community-led initiatives that improve access to healthy, affordable food, recognising that the best solutions often come from the ground up.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Taunton and Wellington constituency this is the Somerset ICB.

Since 2024, a minimum Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) value of £28 is in place to support practices with historically low UDA rates. ICBs have the flexibility to influence the UDA rate locally, which may help to support local interventions. The current differential UDA rates across England also allow providers to use differing pay rates for associate dentists to reflect the local market rates.

In July 2022, ICBs were given new powers to unilaterally rebase a provider’s dental contract if they have consistently failed to deliver the UDAs required, within a contractual tolerance of 96%. In practice this means that ICBs can reallocate these UDAs to practices who are able to deliver them, meaning more available care for patients.

We are committed to fundamentally reforming the dental contract by the end of the Parliament, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention, and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability.

Following successful engagement with the chairman of the Somerset Armed Forces Day (AFD) event, the MOD can confirm an AFD grant award of £5,000 for 2026 event.