, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Welsh Government has prioritised the delivery of our statutory obligations in collaboration with stakeholders, including the delivery of fisheries management plans. The first were for scallop and bass fisheries and were delivered at the end of last year, in…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Well, unfortunately, we had seen a disproportionate number of attacks by XL bully dogs, and it took a long time for the UK Government to take some action. I had been in discussions with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs Minister…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Well, the RSPCA were part of the summit that we held back in October. As I mentioned earlier, I'm hoping to hold another summit, maybe not quite on the level we did in October, but I'm hoping to hold another one next month. There were some…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Diolch. I hosted a multi-agency summit in October to discuss responsible dog ownership and what can be done using the levers available to Wales. I issued a written statement on 6 December, setting out our next steps, both for the welfare of dogs and the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Well, that's certainly been my aim. I remember saying to officials that if we increased the bureaucracy around what you've got for the basic payment scheme and if it was more for the sustainable farming scheme, that would not be a good thing at…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Well, everything we've done since we've left the European Union—. If you asked farmers why, in general, they voted to leave the European Union, one of the biggest answers was the bureaucracy. So, it was vitally important to me that any paperwork that we…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Well, what I want to do is cause as little stress as possible, and I go back to what I was saying to Llyr Huws Gruffydd—it is really important that you look at the cumulative impact. A lot of the events are outside of my control or outside of the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. I'm fully aware that farmers face many barriers, including uncertainty, isolation and loneliness, and that obviously has a detrimental impact on mental well-being. I mentioned some of the funding that I gave in my original answer to you. We do…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. The Welsh Government supports several important activities to aid mental health in our rural communities. These include FarmWell Wales, an information hub on personal and business resilience for farmers and their families, in which I have invested…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. I did have discussions with the previous Minister for education to see what more we could do in schools. I think you're quite right—it is children. If you think about recycling, it was my children, I remember, when they were in school, who came…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Well, I go back to what I was saying about the funding that we gave for the enforcement project to be able to allow more inspectors to visit premises, where they can assess the premises and see exactly where dog breeding is taking place. We have…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Well, in relation to the last part of your question, the UK Government are funding that. We don't have to fund that; it was the UK Government. The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is a reserved matter. It's a piece of UK Government legislation, so they are funding…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Well, you do raise a very important point, and, as I say, we've had the local authority enforcement project, which I do think has led to best practice being shared, perhaps, in a way that it wasn't before. And I think it is really important that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Our capacity to investigate and stop illegal breeding has increased significantly over recent years as a direct result of the Welsh Government-funded local authority enforcement project. Officials meet regularly with Animal Licensing Wales to discuss progress.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. I think you make an important point—and I think you made it in committee—about the cumulative impact. And if we look at the cumulative impact of events that are outside our control—so, if you look at leaving the European Union, the COVID pandemic…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
We are looking at all of the economic analysis of the sustainable farming scheme. We've started to prepare for that. We've had a great deal of analysis done. The analysis that we have done is not going to be reflected in the final scheme, once that comes in…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
So, I absolutely understand the distress that the event that you referred to that was shown on Ffermio causes to a farmer and their family—absolutely understand that. And it's not just the technical advisory group; whilst I'm asking them to consider it again…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Well, you asked me this question last week in committee, and what I said to you, and I will repeat that for all Members to hear, is that we wanted to protect the £238 million. When I brought forward the figure for the BPS of 2023 in December 2022, I…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Well, both I and the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language have met with officers and the chief executive of the Royal Welsh Show. I don’t disagree with what you say about it being the pinnacle of our agricultural calendar. You will be aware, I'm…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I haven’t done anything specifically with public services around ensuring that game meat is on the menu. I would guess that the cost might be a barrier, but it’s certainly something that I would be very happy to speak with the Minister for Education and the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Yes, I'm very keen to use every opportunity we have to support all parts of the Welsh food and drink industry, but, as you say, you're referring to Welsh beer. We have a drinks cluster that the Welsh Government supports, and I think it's next week…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Well, as you say, when a housing order is introduced, farmers may market eggs produced by housed hens as free range for the first 16 weeks of a housing order, and I think 16 weeks is a fair period of time for that to take place. I'm very aware that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. I think the scheme to which you refer probably would be quite difficult to administer, but what I am keen to keep doing is promoting, as you say, our fantastic Welsh food and drink, and you specifically referred to Welsh lamb, beef and pork, and…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Welsh Government has supported food and drink businesses and their supply chains, achieving our food foundation sector turnover of £8.1 billion. Blas Cymru/Taste Wales, key buyer events such as the Royal Welsh Show and the trade development and export…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I certainly agree with that last point, and encouraging the next generation into agriculture is a very, very important part of maintaining a prosperous and dynamic industry. I've spoken to many young farmers, like the farmer you referred to, who tell me that…
