, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Okay. Assessing alternative approaches is something that I’ve pushed on previously, having—us as a committee—visited Gelli Aur. Just assessing where we are on alternative approaches.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
No. So, English farmers reaching a higher derogation limit are able to potentially have a greater return. There's no analysis been undertaken on the competitive disadvantage.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Has any analysis been undertaken on the competitive disadvantage Welsh farmers will have with those across the border, where the derogation limit is still at the upper level, and the disparity between Welsh and English farmers on that?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
So what happens in 12 months' time when this derogation reverts back to 170 kg? Is that the plan—that within 12 months it reverts back to 170 kg, and the upper derogation limit no longer exists for farmers?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Have you done any analysis as to how many farmers will be seeking to use the higher level of derogation in compliance for the next 12 months?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Coming back a step, then, to the analysis undertaken for the licensing and non-licensing schemes for the derogation limit, I think the word used is more 'pragmatic' than issuing licences. I'm just wondering what analysis has been undertaken to show that the…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Okay. Are you content that the timings are appropriate for the scheme to start on 1 January?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Will there be any guidance for the enhanced nutrient management approach published before Christmas?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Okay, thank you.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
So, that £20 million wasn't a £20 million pot, but it was £20 million distributed amongst other schemes.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Moving on, then, as I said, in a written statement on 5 October 2022, you mentioned, on the co-operation agreement and agricultural pollution, that you're also making available up to £20 million extra funding, and then, in the Chamber last week…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thanks, Chair. Just before I move on to agricultural pollution regulations, just on organic-specific support. You've mentioned before, in the Chamber, dedicated support for organics, as that's missed in the Habitat Wales scheme. Have you got any further…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
And, again, tomorrow we're hearing that the sustainable farming scheme consultation is being launched. I just think, given that the sustainable farming scheme is going to be the single biggest policy change for agriculture in a generation under devolution, a…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Just quickly, just following up on that point you mentioned at the beginning around the Habitat Wales scheme—that announcement was on 21 July, which was a Friday, which, again, avoided the statement within the Senedd. I think I wrote to you on that point—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
So, they couldn't have been rebadged it as something else but the actual mechanism of delivery would have been very similar—there would have been a new scheme, just where the bare meat of it would have been extremely similar to Glastir, so a lot of these…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
But then there's funding being made available in the next financial year for the Habitat Wales scheme, so Glastir contracts running from January, as Gian Marco said earlier, would be coming out of next year's budget, which is due to be announced, so there…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Just a final point, Chair, if I may. On the point that you make, that Glastir was coming to an end and we knew that Glastir was coming to an end, yes, the payments were from the European Union, but is there anything within the 'rules', in inverted commas…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
It ended, yes, and I'll come to that point separately. But the Habitat Wales scheme is not a sufficient response to what the Glastir payments were. So, farmers are having a negative impact on their income, so they will make the decision either to sign up to…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
But they're not being paid to do so, are they? So, farmers have been reliant on Glastir as an income stream for a number of years, that income stream has been removed or altered or negatively impacted.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
We've seen on the analysis, yes, there's a payment rate included within this, but some farms have made their analysis that they could be seeing an income reduction of 50 per cent from these payments specifically. That's a massive drop. So, there will be some…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
It's not to throw it back at you, it's just to understand that, following 3,000 Glastir contract holders—. And now the Government has—yourself and the First Minister have—expressed excitement that this scheme has been opened to those who were not initially…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you, Chair. Minister, in response to a letter that Llyr, Jane and myself penned to you earlier last month, you mentioned that over 3,200 farmers submitted an application for the Habitat Wales scheme, and, in written questions, 3,254 was the number who'd…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions, and declarations of interest
Diolch, Gadeirydd. I'm an honorary member of the British Veterinary Association.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I'm grateful to Cefin Campbell for submitting this question. There's rightly a lot of concern in the village of Laugharne following the announced closure of its surgery. My team and I have been in discussion with residents and the mayor of Laugharne, Pam…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
You reference cuts to BPS in England; that’s money that has not been lost, that’s money transferred across to other schemes that are already in operation in England, which aren’t yet in operation here in Wales. So, that’s not money lost—that’s money making…
