, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Both of those are sub-sets of the regulations and are available on the website.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Yes, they're already published. They're available on the website.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thanks, Buffy. So, the regulatory baseline for agriculture, which is what we refer to as NMS, already exists, and what that does is establish the minimum requirements every farmer must comply with and the associated criminal offences for any serious…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
As you probably know, Vikki, it's the universal layer that we want to be ready for day one, and every farmer, if they want to be part of that, can come in from day one. There's a lot more work to be done on the collaborative and optional layers, going…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Is there anything else?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
So, I'm expecting quite a lot in response to the consultation on that particular point. So, we will have to look at it, obviously.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I think that came up quite a lot in the workshops.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I don't disagree with that. I think the working group certainly discussed that there would be instances where a rights holder couldn't access the scheme, so I'm very conscious of that. What we really need to do is consider what level of participation is…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. I am well aware of the number of common associations you've got in your constituency. I know you meet with them regularly. We did convene a sustainable farming scheme common land working group—there was NFU, FUW, the National Sheep Association's…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
We have to, absolutely. Nothing is set in stone. So, the 10 per cent isn't set in stone. The 10 per cent is there for all the reasons I've described, but, obviously, when we look at the consultation responses, we will have to look at that target.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Well, I can't pre-empt the consultation, but, as I say, we'll see what comes out of the consultation.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
That definitely was before your time, Richard. So, Glyn—. I didn't think we used the term 'technical advisory group' back then, when Glyn brought a group of experts together, because I met them in the August, I think, but I don't think we referred to it as a…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Glyn wasn't announced as the chair of the technical advisory—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I think it was March 2023.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
When was it launched?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Sorry, Chair, this is in relation to agricultural pollution regulations. So, we will be opening a new window very soon.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Of which, I think we've spent about £3.4 million. We will be opening another window for this funding.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
So, it's the £20 million that was announced previously.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
It wasn't new money, because I think we'd been—. I think, earlier on you'd said to me, 'Was it new money?' as well. But that's what I meant.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
To clarify, I meant 'new', if you know what I mean.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Well, as I say, there are no red lines because, you know, it's a meaningful consultation. And I think, you know, there are some common misconceptions, and I think they've been repeated and repeated. You know, 'I'm on this side', repeat—. And it's the same…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I'm sure the NFU were the same. As I said, the FUW was the one I had the conversation with. We try to communicate the best we can with our farmers. We have newsletters that we send—I think it's three times a year that Gwlad goes out—and we have, as you know…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Yes, absolutely. As I've said, nothing is set in stone in the consultation. I certainly don't want to pre-empt the consultation. Has there been a failure to communicate that? Well, we've tried really hard to communicate to our farmers. As I said, I can't meet…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I don't think it's true to say that the proposals will take out 20 per cent of productive land from food production. I really don't think that is the case. Certainly, the team, I presume, have been looking at that, before we even brought the final…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Because it is a really important target. I'm not on about the 10 per cent, I'm on about the 43,000 hectares and the new woodland. As I say, I want farmers to be absolutely at the fore of getting the benefits. If you look at the way our land is managed in…
