, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Sarah Murphy.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Thanks very much. Luke Fletcher.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Absolutely. That would be helpful, I think, Minister. Thank you very much. I'm going to come now to Hefin David. Hefin, over to you.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Apologies to our viewers there—we did have a problem with the microphones, but it now has been resolved. And thank you for that initial answer, Minister, to the question on the roads review and its impact on the economy. One of the things that I know has been…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Thank you for that, Minister. Can I just check? We were having some issues with the microphone for our virtual attendees. Has that been resolved for people yet? It hasn't. Can I suggest we just suspend proceedings for just a minute while we get that situation…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
—if that's all right. So, obviously, the Welsh Government's approach to roads and investment in roads has changed significantly. We appreciate that this is not within your portfolio directly, but, clearly, roads have an impact on the economy and can be…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Good afternoon and welcome back to today's meeting of the committee. We're going to move on to item 6 on our agenda now, which is a general ministerial scrutiny session with the Minister for Economy, Vaughan Gething. Welcome to you, Minister. He's joined…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Take care. We'll take a short break now, before our next item on the agenda, and we'll reconvene at 12.30.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Are there any further questions from Members? No. If there aren't, then, if I can just thank you, Minister, for your attendance at committee today, and thank you, Gavin Watkins and Gian Marco Currado. You'll obviously have a copy of the transcript of today's…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Yes. That would be very helpful.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Sarah Murphy, you wanted to come back in on animal welfare.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I should express an interest, given my son is training to be a vet at the moment, shouldn't I?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
That's great.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Sam Kurtz, do you want to come in?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Okay. Thank you. Luke Fletcher.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you for that, Minister. Can I just ask, as a follow-up, are you considering any kinds of reforms to national parks, to go alongside this piece of legislation that might need to be brought forward for the establishment of a new national park?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I'm happy with that. Can I just ask, Minister, as a follow-up, on this issue of access to the countryside? Obviously, many people in north Wales are very excited about the prospect of there being a new national park. And this is something that the Welsh…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
That's great. Thank you for that, Minister. Can I call Hefin David next?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Can I just ask a couple of questions, Minister? Some of the things that have been live topics of discussion in the Senedd in recent months, of course, have been the potential banning of greyhound racing tracks in Wales, and I know that you've committed to…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you, Vikki. Luke Fletcher, you wanted to come in on this.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Okay, thanks, Sam. We're going to come back to Vikki Howells now, on animal welfare.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I know that Gareth Davies is delighted with the news about the Denbigh plum festival. Moving on from Gareth to his colleague Sam Kurtz.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Sarah Murphy, you want to come in.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thanks for that, Minister. We'll move on, then, to Vikki Howells.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Okay. In terms of flexibility within the UK, obviously, the Welsh Government may take a slightly different view on what it might want to put in place. Is the view at the moment that you're more likely to be in tandem with the other nations of the UK, or will…
