, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Yes.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Well, Gian Marco or Claire, do we have a publication on that?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
So, the lean review, I think, has pretty much been put into place. That's an ongoing thing. We've already dealt with some of the aspects of making more efficient the way that we—
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Thank you, Janet. Good morning, Chair, and good morning, Members. I think forestry and woodland creation remains of crucial importance to this Government and it's partly predicated on the advice given by the Climate Change Committee, about, of course, the…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: The Welsh food system—Producing food sustainably
Joyce, thank you very much, and I'm conscious that we're having some contributions here that are helping me write the community food strategy live. [Laughter.] There is this issue about how we can make that good, nutritious food available on our high streets…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: The Welsh food system—Producing food sustainably
Carolyn, I'd be more than happy. If you could drop me a note on that, I'd be more than happy to see where that's got to and to kick-start that. And you mentioned how we can help with decarbonisation. There are number of ways; I touched on them very, very…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: The Welsh food system—Producing food sustainably
Thank you very much, Jenny—a series of good questions there. In terms of not only Puffin Produce but the wider producers and the supply chain with it, I think this is exactly why a number of the measures I talked about in the opening statement are important…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: The Welsh food system—Producing food sustainably
Nothing at all. It would be good to have some voice. Regardless of who is sitting in those top seats at a UK level going forward, particularly in food, not just our primary producers, but in the wider food supply chain, we need to have that voice. I'm not…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: The Welsh food system—Producing food sustainably
We have no voice in the trade deals.
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: The Welsh food system—Producing food sustainably
Diolch, Llyr. There were some really helpful and interesting points there. Just first of all to say that, on the exploring of the mandating of climate risk reporting for the large food and feed businesses—one of the recommendations of the climate change…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: The Welsh food system—Producing food sustainably
Janet, thank you very much, and can I just start where you have ended? My approach is to work with people where they've got good ideas, and to try and take these forward. I, like others, will pay tribute to Peter's work, which you flagged up there, in…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: The Welsh food system—Producing food sustainably
So, in the face of these challenges, there is a growing trend, as well, of ethical consumption. More than ever, the public expect suppliers to embrace sustainable production practices. Indeed, market insights reveal that one in three consumers in the UK have…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: The Welsh food system—Producing food sustainably
Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. Today, I'm very pleased to set out for Senedd Members how this Welsh Government is driving a more sustainable food and drink sector in the face of the climate emergency. And as we know, climate change is not just a distant…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Natasha, thank you for that follow-up, and it is an important question. When we chose to put out there in full public transparency the economic impact assessment previously, we did it in full knowledge that actually it was two years out of date and didn't…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Thank you, Natasha. Welsh Government provides a wide range of direct and indirect support. Our grants for investment in on-farm improvements, equipment and technology, the learning and development on offer from Farming Connect, or the advice from our own farm…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Diolch, Cefin. One of the challenges that we face is, when it comes to the sale and purchase of land in Wales, whether that's farmers or other landowners, we don't have the ability to directly intervene. They're making commercial decisions. It's difficult to…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Thank you, Cefin. We are committed to creating a national forest for Wales and bringing the benefits of woodlands and trees to our local communities that are at the heart of our vision. We continue to fund community tree-planting initiatives through the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Thank you, James, for that supplementary question. Just to make clear again, NRW is not alone in facing budgetary challenges, and there are well-rehearsed reasons why, across all Cabinet Secretaries, Ministers, across all portfolios, from local authorities to…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Thank you, James. Budgetary pressures for 2024-25 are very well documented and no organisations are immune to the extremely tough budgetary conversations and decisions that need to be made. NRW is considering its remit and critically reviewing all activities…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Thank you very much. I do my best learning by being out and about and visiting some of these projects, and you rightly flagged some of the successes that are out there. There's incredible work going on that not only manages to produce really good, nutritious…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Thank you, Mark. On the latter point, in the preparatory phase that we're now doing, we can take into consideration those wider impacts, as we aim to bring forward the SFS together with landowners and farmers. So, this preparatory phase gives us the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
The biodiversity deep-dive recommended actions to support meaningful delivery of the 30x30 target, including designing the sustainable farming scheme to ensure farmers are rewarded both for providing appropriate management of protected sites, and for actions…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Joyce, thank you for that question, and I've met with farmers in the region and right across Wales, actually. And, indeed, I've been out meeting with farmers even this morning before I came here. I think the very rapid move by the TB advisory group to move on…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Russell, thank you for that question, and can I say first of all that I share with you the concern that I've heard expressed first-hand, including on my farm visits recently to farmers and their families as well, who are living on the premises. This is not…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Yes, thank you, Russell. Our approach to eradicating bovine TB in Wales is set out in our TB eradication delivery plan, which we published in March 2023. In February, we also reintroduced pre-movement testing and extended the post-movement testing in the…
