Lesley Griffiths: A suite of advice and support is provided by the Welsh Government through Farming Connect that aims to improve the profitability and resilience of farm businesses. Targeted capital grants and funding through the rural development programme are designed to help farm businesses improve their financial and environmental performance.
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Volatility is a feature of the farming sector, and businesses need to be resilient to deal with price and cost fluctuations. Welsh Government continues to support and equip farming businesses with tools to improve their understanding and control their cost of production.
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. I'm obviously very aware of the information that was published. I think there's been a call—. Since we went out to consultation on 'Brexit and our land' last year—the first consultation—there's certainly been a call to have a component for volatility. I think it also shows that the basic payment scheme hasn't provided that cushion that farmers want to see. Members will be...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Llywydd, I understand that you've given your permission for questions 2 and 3 to be grouped.
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. I hadn't noticed the Member wasn't present, sorry. I'm gravely concerned about the global loss of biodiversity. The legislation we have introduced requires all public bodies, including Welsh Ministers, to proactively maintain and enhance biodiversity through the decisions they make. We also provide financial and practical support to community groups to take action in their local area.
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Certainly, the report that was published last week is deeply worrying, but, like you, I was very pleased that the global assessment did recognise that it's not too late to reverse a trend, but it does require that transformative change to which you referred. I do think that we're ahead of the game in recognising that biodiversity underpins our economic and our social well-being,...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. I think I'm going to hear from a lot of Members about the species that they're champions for this afternoon, looking at the questions. I think the Member raises a very important point about marine pollution, and certainly there have been several campaigns that have highlighted that. I'm working very closely with my colleague the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. You are right—it is a commercial matter between the farmers, the collectors of the plastic farm waste and the plants that can, and do, recycle it. Obviously, farmers have a responsibility to ensure their plastic is disposed of correctly. I think farmers also recognise, of course, it's important to collect and treat the waste, and all other businesses have to pay for their...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Llywydd, I also wrote to you and placed a copy of that letter in the library for Members to be able to access. I don't see it as draconian. I have heard that word used. We have seen an increase in the number of major polluting incidents, and I'm sure you yourself have seen them, and, certainly, in my discussions with the farming unions, they themselves accept that this is...
Lesley Griffiths: Well, when I first came into post, which was three years ago, I was very keen to have a voluntary approach. I worked with the farming unions, with other stakeholders, to do that, but we did see an increase in the agricultural pollution. And we're still seeing—[Interruption.] No, we're still seeing a significant number of major polluting incidents. We had one—I think it was the week before...
Lesley Griffiths: The radioactive waste management disposal, which I think is what you're referring to, is not the same as nuclear waste. The higher activity radioactive waste has been created in Wales, and that's why Welsh Government agreed to take part in the UK Government programme for its disposal.
Lesley Griffiths: We made it very clear as a Government—and certainly the UK Government as well—that we didn't identify any sites, the UK Government didn't identify any sites. It was for a community to decide if they wanted to be a site. So, the work that was undertaken, the consultation meetings—well, they were then done on a webinar, as you know, one in south Wales and one in north Wales—were for...
Lesley Griffiths: So, I absolutely agree that it's right that we manage the waste now. I don't think we should leave it for future generations. Certainly, when I came into this portfolio and this was a question that was sort of bubbling around, and there would be these consultations going forward, I felt it was absolutely right that we dealt with it now, even though it's probably in 20 years' time that this...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. I am gravely concerned about the global loss of biodiversity. The legislation we've introduced requires all public bodies, including Welsh Ministers, to proactively maintain and enhance biodiversity through the decisions they make. We also provide financial and practical support to community groups to take action in their local area.
Lesley Griffiths: Absolutely not. I think the First Minister, from the day he came into post back in December, has made it very clear that biodiversity and climate change mitigation are absolutely one of his top priorities. We all have to look at biodiversity right across Government in relation to our policies. You're absolutely right—that report last week was hugely concerning. I was saying in my answer to...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. As I say, I think the report was very sobering and very concerning, but I was pleased that it recognised that it's not too late to reverse the trend that we have seen. It's not just up to Government, it's up to everybody, and I think, going back to Leanne Wood's comments around the climate change emergency, that was about galvanising not just Governments but individuals and...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. We have our natural resources policy, and that obviously sets out our priorities to enable us to reverse the decline in biodiversity and achieve more resilient ecosystems. I mentioned in my answer to Joyce Watson that we're refreshing the nature recovery action plan, because that will then give us the key actions and mechanisms that we will need to take forward to make that real...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Presiding Officer, I understand that you've given your permission for questions 4 and 10 to be grouped. Halting and reversing biodiversity in Wales requires transformational change, and this Welsh Government is determined to be the catalyst. Our focus now must be on building on the actions already under way. We will build on the action we are doing through major new policies,...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you, Huw Irranca-Davies, for your helpful comments and, certainly, your help with my ministerial colleagues. Certainly, I don't think that I need any help with the First Minister. As I said in my answer to Leanne Wood, the First Minister, from the day that he came into post, has made it very clear that climate change and biodiversity—and I think you're quite right, it is a twin-track...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you for that question. Certainly, I've made it very clear that we don't want to see any diminishment of our environmental protections that we've had in the EU. If anything, we want to enhance them. The Member will be aware that we are out to consultation on governance and principles at the current time. That consultation closes on 9 June. I would encourage everybody to put forward their...
