Lesley Griffiths: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I very much welcome this report and the debate we've had today. As several Members pointed out, it does follow on very nicely from the debate we had yesterday on the draft national marine plan. But I think it also emphasises how important our seas are to us. The Welsh Government's written response to the report and my further letter reflect the very...
Lesley Griffiths: The Welsh Government has a strategic role in managing MPAs. We cannot secure favourable conditions on our own, so we will continue to work with other management authorities across Wales through the MPA management steering group to provide leadership and, where necessary, support towards collective fulfilment of our roles and responsibilities. John Griffiths asked a question around what...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Our key programme for tackling fuel poverty is Welsh Government Warm Homes, which includes the Nest and Arbed schemes. For the period 2017-21, we are investing £104 million in improving the energy efficiency of up to 25,000 homes of those on low incomes or living in deprived areas of Wales.
Lesley Griffiths: I think you make a very important point, and we had a decarbonisation ministerial task and finish group on Monday, where we were talking about this, because, obviously, we've been concentrating on energy efficiency as our way of tackling fuel poverty, but we also need to look at retrofitting in respect of decarbonisation and how we are going to obviously hit those targets as well. We will...
Lesley Griffiths: Again, I think the Member makes a very important point. It's not a matter for the Welsh Government, but, of course, it is something that we are extremely interested in. I know that my officials have had discussions with officials in the UK Government around what we can do to support, as you say, some of the most deprived people in our constituencies.
Lesley Griffiths: I mentioned in my original answer to Mark Isherwood that we had a meeting of the decarbonisation ministerial task and finish group, and Rebecca Evans, the Minister for Housing and Regeneration sits on this, because we need to look beyond 2020 now, when all of our homes will have reached the WHQS, about what we then do with that funding that's been available for that. I think we need to...
Lesley Griffiths: You're quite right when you say that we have very differing views around Brexit, but I’ve always said that we would look at opportunities. I think we have very high animal health and welfare standards in Wales, and I would certainly not want to see those drop at all. In relation to your specific question about banning that specific type of fishing, it’s certainly something that I will be...
Lesley Griffiths: Yes, absolutely, and certainly, my preference would be for animals to be slaughtered as close as is practical to their point of production, and I think that, again, that is something that, as you say, doesn’t have a huge effect on Welsh exports. However, it doesn’t matter how small it is; I would certainly want to have a focus on that.
Lesley Griffiths: Absolutely. I had a meeting this morning with the chief veterinary officer on this very topic, because, you will be aware, we had the consultation previously. England are looking to do this; Scotland are looking to do this. I have to say that the vast majority of certainly large slaughterhouses do have CCTV, but I am very keen to look at making it mandatory, to see what package of support...
Lesley Griffiths: Animal welfare is a priority for the Welsh Government. An overarching strategic outcome of the Wales animal health and welfare framework group is: 'Animals in Wales have a good quality of life'. Work is ongoing to revise the existing Welsh Government livestock and companion animal welfare codes of practice.
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you for that question. Certainly, I have been approached by the RSPCA in relation to this, and it's something that we are giving very serious consideration to.
Lesley Griffiths: Certainly, yes, it is something that we are looking at from the RDP. I mentioned in my answer to Neil Hamilton that I had a meeting just this morning with Professor Christianne Glossop about this. I don't want that to be a burden. I don't want smaller slaughterhouses to come to me and say that funding to do this is a barrier, so I would want to take that away. You asked specifically about...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you, Julie Morgan, for that question. I mentioned in my original answer to Mandy Jones that we were currently revising many of the existing codes of practice. Certainly, there was a code of practice for the welfare of game birds reared for sporting purposes in 2011, for instance. So, we have been in consultation with the industry and welfare organisations, looking at that...
Lesley Griffiths: Yes, as you say, the working group has now met. I think they're due to report to me in the summer. So, I would imagine the timeline for being able to bring forward a statement would probably be the summer or as soon as we come back following the summer. It's a piece of work that, obviously, you've shown a particular interest in and I think it would be great if we could be first. Certainly,...
Lesley Griffiths: Diolch. There are five adopted local development plans in north Wales, with Wrexham County Borough Council and Flintshire County Council expected to adopt their plans by 2020. Conwy County Borough Council and Denbighshire County Council are due to commence a review of their respective LDPs, and I've recently invited them to prepare a joint plan instead.
Lesley Griffiths: I am absolutely committed to a plan-led approach to development across Wales. I think it's really important that local authorities bring forward their LDPs. It's unfortunate—and you mention my own constituency of Wrexham in particular—it's very unfortunate that they haven't had an LDP in place. I wouldn't say they're flawed. I think the difficulty around LDPs is that they have to be...
Lesley Griffiths: It's really important that local planning authorities have their five-year land supply and you referred to a letter I sent you before Christmas. The problem is when they don't have those five-year land supplies, we see developers coming in with very speculative applications. So, I think it's really important and I don't want to talk about specific plans because, obviously, our powers in the...
Lesley Griffiths: I am meeting the National Grid next week, to discuss a range of issues. National Grid’s mid Wales Connection Project has been paused following the UK Government’s decision in 2015 to decline consent for four onshore wind projects in mid Wales and withdraw financial support for development of the onshore wind sector. These decisions have created ongoing uncertainty for developers and...
Lesley Griffiths: The upcoming Glastir windows are published on the Welsh Government website. The UK Government has provided assurances agricultural and rural support is protected to 2022, and we will hold them to this. The Welsh Government is continuing to engage with key stakeholders shaping policies to best support Welsh farming after Brexit.
Lesley Griffiths: The Welsh Government will continue to support the farming industry in Pembrokeshire, as in all parts of Wales, to become more profitable, sustainable, resilient, and business focused. Over 1,400 people in Pembrokeshire are already signed up to Farming Connect to learn more about improving the profitability, competitiveness and environmental performance of their business.
