, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Well, we're not pausing the consultation, there are eight days to go—so, we are not pausing the consultation. And I don't want to punish anybody, and certainly not our farmers. You mentioned future generations, and you're absolutely right to mention future…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
My officials and I are in regular contact with farmers, the farming unions and wider agricultural stakeholders on all aspects of the development of the sustainable farming scheme.
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Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. And I'm aware, obviously, that Wanda has found a wonderful home with you, and is, I know, keeping you very busy. I have had a request to attend Valley stadium. I haven't had the opportunity to do that; my officials have, as you say. And I and my…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. So, I think that what you have just told the Chamber is incredibly distressing. As the Member knows, I've previously met with the owners of the Valley stadium. I've met with representatives of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, I've met with…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Well, as Jack Sargeant points out, the consultation does end on Friday and, as you can imagine, we are getting a significant number of responses in this last week, which often happens during consultations. I'm sure we'll see the same for the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. I am committed to ensuring the welfare of racing greyhounds in Wales is not compromised. On 8 December, I launched our consultation on the regulation of animal welfare, which includes a section on greyhound racing, requesting evidence to inform our…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Well, as I've said quite a few times this afternoon, that economic analysis is not part of the current consultation that's out. There will be a new economic analysis.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I think the Member makes a very good point, and, certainly, I did speak with a farmer who does farm regeneratively. He used to farm organically and he's now changed to regenerative farming. I think there has been a bit of a shift to regenerative farming from…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. The Welsh Government remains committed to improving the financial and environmental performance within the Welsh dairy industry to build sustainable, resilient businesses. Regenerative farming principles align with sustainable land management…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Absolutely, I do. I think that was the point I was trying to make. It's not just listening to one voice; you have to listen to many voices, and you have to think about the impact across a wide range. As you said, I'm the Minister for rural affairs; I'm not…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Well, the current proposals absolutely do not attack in the way that you referred to. It is a consultation, and I will repeat: we will look at every piece of information that comes in. You refer to the economic impact in a way that—. I tried to…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
The proposed sustainable farming scheme is designed to support all farmers in Wales through a universal baseline payment, based on the completion of a set of universal actions, currently at consultation. These actions will be familiar to farmers in north…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
On the timescale point, it will be within the animal welfare plan timescale, so that's obviously before 2026. I think it's unlikely that it will be this year. I don't think it will be 2024 and this year of the animal welfare plan. But you referred to England…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. So, any future changes that we have to the legislation would obviously have to be subject to a full public consultation. So, I suppose that's the sort of question that we could ask for. I mentioned in my original answer to you, Carolyn, that my…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Officials are working in partnership with colleagues in other Governments to consider future changes in relation to microchipping databases for both cats and dogs, including accessibility and a single point of entry. Our animal welfare plan makes a commitment…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
So, I want to clarify: we're not forcing anybody to do anything. I think that's a really important point. And you're quite right, the scheme, absolutely, has to be right. I've made that abundantly clear. It needs to be right for every farmer in every part of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Well, I hope we have shown that we are listening, if you look back at the two previous consultations, the two periods of intense co-design we've had with 1,600 individual farmers and now the final consultation. You're just picking on one point, and obviously…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Nowhere in that statement did anything say it was new money. It didn't say that. I never said it was new money. In the statement, that £20 million—[Interruption.] It was just referred to; it didn't say it was additional money, it didn't say it was new money…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Some of that funding has already been spent. I think it's around £3.4 million, if I can remember off the top of my head. It will sit in the rural investment scheme.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Just to say, the statement came out yesterday from both myself and the First Minister on the back of the meeting that you've referred to with the organisers, but also on the feedback from the two presidents of NFU Cymru and the Farmers Union of Wales last…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
What we will need to do is make sure that every consultation response is read, and I have committed to that. Every piece of information—. So, currently, I'm getting lots of e-mails just with the views of farmers and they're asking, 'Can this be part of the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Well, I didn't just, over the weekend, say that there would be changes, I've said all along—this is a very meaningful consultation. And I cannot answer the last part of your question, because I cannot pre-empt the consultation. I don't know what…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
We have published an economic assessment that is an important piece of work that helped inform our consultation so any issues could be addressed. It is not an assessment of the current consultation. The published economic assessment included estimated results…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
The economic assessment to which Janet Finch-Saunders refers to—that piece of work was published alongside the current sustainable farming consultation. It was a very important piece of work, which helped inform the consultation, but I want to reiterate that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Well, we have two major schemes to support horticulture over the past year, and we've had contracts worth over £50,000 already awarded. We opened and closed a window; I think the window closed on 12 January. So, those expressions of interest are…
