, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
Well, Chair, one of the more happier afternoons I've spent in recent times was to go to the showground in Llanelwedd, and it was to a celebration event to mark all the achievements of 10 years of the rural development programme here in Wales. And, actually…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
I don't think it's easy, Chair, because we have to create a culture in which people come into these conversations prepared to think about the contribution that they themselves can make to finding those solutions, rather than coming into the conversation…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
Obviously, Chair, we are in continuous conversation with the industry and the farming unions, and change is difficult—it's difficult in this field, as it is in the field of tourism. Any time that you're faced with change, there will be people who want to…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
The first thing to say is that the impact of the war in Ukraine is very real in the food sector. We are part of a UK system that shares information about the impact on food production in the United Kingdom of the war—fertiliser costs and so on—and Lesley…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
So, Chair, you may remember this. There was a proposal to the Welsh Government from Bangor University to do some work on Ynys Môn that would have extended 5G broadband to 400 properties on the island using a new and innovative form of delivery. And we did…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
Chair, I think, if I remember this correctly, it is about 60-odd per cent of Wales that has access to 4G from all providers, but it's much more like 90 per cent, isn't it, that has it from at least one provider. So, there are a number of things that we are…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
Well, we'd never say 'no' to an ambition for Wales to be a leader in any field, but the fundamental difference here, Chair, would be that, for the UK Government, this is essentially a market responsibility: the state is a sort of enabler of the market and the…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
Well, Chair, it's a matter of the balance here. So, in the Superfast Cymru area, 30 per cent of the funding came from the UK Government, everything else came from Wales—either our own funds directly or European funding that the Welsh Government was able to…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
There's a series of schemes that we've had over the years—a new entrants scheme, as we've had at different points; the work we do to encourage tenant farming possibilities for people who can't buy at the outset, but still wish to be in farming. And the Welsh…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
No, absolutely, Chair. Most of what we assume is not the Welsh Government buying land ourselves, but encouraging people who are landowners and farmers already to do more in this area. Now, there are some examples of where we are ourselves investing, and…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
Chair, I should have said, sorry, if I could—just in terms of how are we taking forward the recommendations, the original question, of course, in the sustainable farming scheme that the Minister published this week, or at the end of last week, in advance of…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
Yes. Well, maybe it will, but I haven't seen it.
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
I have not seen, as part of the national forest, plans for extensive fruit-growing trees to be part of it, no.
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
I can offer some thoughts rather than necessarily having a resolution, and Gian Marco may have some things there. The general point that Jenny raised right at the end is a really important one. We've been having this debate in relation to the national forest…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
I think we'll ask Gian Marco because he probably has a better grasp of the details. Some aspects of it we are responding to. We won't wait until we can respond to everything to respond to things we can do. So, we will publish the terms of the new woodland…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
Thank you. So, Chair, I think the recommendations of that working group have now been published by the Minister. It may only be in the last day or so, but I believe they are now published, and we continue to work with the people who we drew together to help…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
Well, it's not by mistake, Cadeirydd, because we looked very carefully at the arrangements that were put in place in England. The conclusion at the time was that we had other alternative ways of doing it here in Wales and that we didn't need to follow or just…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
People can hire electric vehicles, and so they don't have to purchase a vehicle but pay to use a vehicle just for a day, perhaps. There are some particular programmes that we have, for example in the western Valleys, where we've run a pilot where we have…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
Thank you for the question, and there are a number of things that we're doing to seek to improve the situation in rural communities. Of course, it's impossible to run the same system in rural areas as we would have in a city such as Cardiff, because there…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
Well, not prospectively, Chair, because, at the moment, we wouldn't have a sense of which local authorities might take this up and which authorities might not. But, retrospectively, we will have an evaluation programme, of course, alongside any…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
The consultation document will rehearse a number of different options in relation to this, from hard hypothecation, which I think is the sort of thing that Mr George is suggesting—you know, a very specific list, you can only use the money for that—to a…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
Mr George made an important point, which I should have mentioned. Just to remind everybody that what we are proposing is a power for local authorities to raise a visitor levy where they think that will be something that will be useful in their circumstances…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
Each research project is different, Chair. The first is research into the economic impacts of a visitor levy, looking at the experience elsewhere in the world. That contract has been let, it's been won by a private research company of the sort we use…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
I don't think it's untypical, Chair, that, when these ideas are introduced—and they are incredibly common right around the world—there is opposition from the industry itself. I was in Holland just before the pandemic meeting the Minister in the Dutch…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Economic strategy for coastal and rural communities
I thank Russell George for the question, Chair. I think it's important just to make two introductory points. First of all, we are more likely these days to call this a 'visitor levy', because it isn't just people coming to Wales for tourism purposes; the levy…
