Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. You raise a very important point. Obviously, while we want to see tourism absolutely boom here in Wales, unfortunately, as is often the case, the minority spoil it for the majority. I know the Deputy Minister has recently taken tourism into her portfolio and is looking at a variety of issues around tourism, and I'm sure she'll be very happy to update us via a written statement.
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Welsh Ministers do not have a formal role in determining executive pay for Wales's water companies, but the Welsh Government does monitor pay and performance, and we do expect relevant remuneration committees to reflect very carefully on performance and delivery against the breadth of current water sector and environmental challenges that need to be addressed—and you pointed one...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. In relation to the additional funding for swimming pools, as you say, the UK Government budget did announce further funding for that. As a Cabinet, we are looking at the additional funding that came forward from the spring budget, and obviously decisions will be made collectively. In relation to the £155 million, obviously that was our money. As a Government, we had plans for how...
Lesley Griffiths: Well, I don't read The Daily Telegraph, and I'd advise the Member not to either. I think you make a serious point about Rhyl and, as somebody from north-east Wales, I know Rhyl very well. And you're quite right—some significant funding has gone into the regeneration of Rhyl, and certainly your predecessor, Ann Jones, always ensured that, for whatever money was around, Rhyl was absolutely at...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Well, as you know, the Welsh Government continues to press for the UK Government to call Northern Powerhouse rail exactly what it is, and that's an England-only project, and the same with HS2. I think it would be interesting for Members to see the significant funding that we haven't received in Wales, and I will certainly ask the Deputy Minister, if he has all that information to...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. The Member raises a very important point and something that concerns me greatly, and we have done some significant work in relation to it. You mentioned the north Wales rural crime team, and I absolutely agree, along with the other two across the country, that they do some excellent work. And, of course, we've got Rob Taylor, our rural wildlife crime commissioner, who just...
Lesley Griffiths: Diolch, Llywydd. I last provided Senedd Members with an update on the TB eradication programme in July 2022, setting out our direction of travel and progress after consulting on an enhanced approach in late 2021. I outlined my intent to commence action in several areas prior to launching a refreshed TB delivery plan, including new governance arrangements for the programme and preliminary...
Lesley Griffiths: The picture of bovine TB in Wales is ever changing, but the important long-term trends show good progress. Between 2009 and December 2022, new TB incidents fell by 49 per cent in Welsh herds while prevalence decreased by 32 per cent. Regionally, there is variation, mainly due to pockets of disease where we are developing or have already taken forward enhanced measures, for example a more...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you very much, Sam Kurtz, for your welcoming of the statement and the delivery plan, and, also, for your words of support, and I'm grateful for the work you did in Pembrokeshire on our behalf. Just to reassure Sam Kurtz and every other Member, and, indeed, every farmer in Wales, I would never be complacent. While you're quite right that the long-term disease statistics do show progress,...
Lesley Griffiths: Diolch, Mabon, for those questions and points. I absolutely understand your opening remarks around the distress and stress caused, and I think you've just explained very clearly why we really all need to work together to ensure that we do realise our ambitions of having a TB-free Wales; at the very latest, 2041, but obviously, the earlier we can do it, the better it will be for us all. I...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Well, I would hope that the whole of the programme will. I think it's really important. You can't just take one piece of the jigsaw, and it is indeed a jigsaw, and I go back to what I was saying about everyone having their part to play. So, obviously, we bring the policy forward. It's really important that the farmer looks at informed purchasing. It's really important that the...
Lesley Griffiths: Diolch, Llywydd. I move the motion to approve the Alcoholic Beverages (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2023. Welsh Government agreed to participate in a joint targeted exercise with the UK and Scottish Governments, which concluded on 23 November 2022, regarding three minor proposed changes to retained EU law on how wine is described and marketed as part of the UK free trade agreement with New...
