, Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
Diolch. You're quite right; I have had several constituents contact me around this issue, and I know the Minister for Social Justice has been working with UK Government Ministers to make sure that they understand Welsh Government's concerns. I will certainly…
, Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
Thank you. Well, you've clearly been in correspondence with the Minister for Health and Social Services. I would think it's more appropriate for you to continue to do that rather than to have a statement.
, Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
Diolch, Llywydd. There are two changes to this week's business: the order of the statements by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language and the Minister for Economy has been reversed, and I've scheduled a debate on a supplementary legislative consent…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
Diolch yn fawr.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
Gosh. So, I started off with priorities, and it is important you look back, and sometimes I think in this job you don’t get time to look back and look at the achievements, if you like, of the Government. So, I would say that the food and drink—. I mentioned…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
As I said in my earlier answer, there’s a great deal of work being done around the community food strategy, but it is early days. Obviously, we’re five months into a five-year programme, but I’m very pleased with the progress that we’ve made. It’s really…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
I think, certainly, the previous scheme from the European Union: protected geographical indication lamb; PGI meat—they sell themselves, don't they? They don't need the Welsh Government to help them, I don't think. I think they help themselves. They're there…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
Yes, we're doing quite a lot of work, making sure that food and drink businesses are aware, first of all, that it's a new scheme—it's obviously replacing the European Union scheme. So, Gower salt marsh lamb was the first new product, not just in Wales, but it…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
Yes, absolutely, I'm keeping an eye on that. It's interesting, I went on a farm visit not expecting to hear about the amazing—what were they, fruit and veg boxes, I suppose is a better way of putting it? So, I spoke to the farmer and her husband, who isn't…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
You can hear me. Sorry, it just came up—my internet was unstable. We will consult, and I don't know when that will be, but I am pleased with the progress that's been made to date.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
Yes, so this was obviously one of our programme for government commitments. Work has already started on it—quite a significant amount of work has started. So, what we're doing at the moment is looking at the scope for it. When you start to dig—it's always the…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
Well, I had hoped to publish it next week, at Taste Wales, but, unfortunately, it's not going to be ready for next week. The previous strategy was so successful—you'll be aware of the target that we had to increase the food and drink sector by 30 per cent…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
We could certainly look into it.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
Yes, absolutely, and we're continuing with that. We've just put some further funding into that; that's a really important part of this.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
I'm not sure if I would want to put a figure on it. I'll bring Christianne in, but, certainly, in the north Wales outbreak that we saw, where we saw that rise in incidence, Christianne works very closely—. Each area has a TB eradication board, and Christianne…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
Again, I can think of several aquaculture companies up here in north Wales, and certainly around the Gower, that we've supported. What we've tried to do is make sure that we develop policy in a very clear direction for them. What we've also been doing to…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
I'm fine now. Thank you. Sorry about that. As part of the preparation, we did have a consultation called 'Brexit and our Seas'—it was a bit of a theme; we had 'Brexit and our land' and then we had 'Brexit and our Seas'—to see what was required in order to…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
As part of our work in relation to bringing forward a bespoke fisheries Bill, which I hope to do, as you heard me say at the beginning, this Senedd term—. Sorry—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
Yes, I'll certainly do that. We've certainly had some difficulties around exporting our seafood—I mentioned it earlier on. With the reclassification of the waters that the EU did, we were unable to export. I think what is really important is that we continue…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
I don't have the figures to hand as to whether we did reach that target. We've certainly, unfortunately, encountered a few difficulties in relation to that.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
I think you're right. I think whenever you shine a torch on one area, then, invariably, it does spread out. I think it's really important that we share best practice in relation to this, and I was very keen that kittens were part of the regulations that we…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
We had the review of the regulations, and they were agreed in early 2019, and then of course we had that BBC documentary on puppy farming, and I think that really brought things to the fore then, and really shone a spotlight in a way that was very, very…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
You mean on the breeding of dogs.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
When you say 'lots more', I wonder if you have any idea how many, because I was absolutely astounded when I asked that question. Unfortunately, we don't have a figure for Wales, but across the UK 3.2 million more households have had a pet since the start of…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd - General Ministerial Scrutiny
So, what we've done—and I've always done it since I've been in post—is we've ruled out the sort of England-style badger cull that we see over the border. None of the science for me, and none of the discussions I have with Christianne and her team, and with…
