Lesley Griffiths: Welsh farmers receive full market value for cattle removed under the TB eradication programme. I will be making an oral statement next month regarding a refreshed programme for TB eradication in Wales. Arrangements for making TB payments to farmers will feature in that statement.
Lesley Griffiths: I mentioned in my previous answer to Tom Giffard that the Welsh Government had funded a project with local authorities. It's a three-year project that we began as part of our work around bringing legislation forward in relation to banning third party sales of dogs and cats, which I brought in a few weeks ago. So, we have funded that project, working with local authorities, to see what the...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. So, you're absolutely right—they play an invaluable part in animal welfare services, and, unfortunately, there are times when things have gone wrong, and certainly, since I've been Minister, I've had a couple of issues highlighted to me, but the majority of them, as you say, are models of good practice. I mentioned the code of practice in my answer to you, and I am aware that...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. The Welsh Government work closely with the Animal Welfare Network for Wales group, who published their voluntary code of practice for animal welfare establishments or sanctuaries in 2020. Further consideration on better regulation of animal welfare establishments, which include sanctuaries, will be addressed via the programme for government commitments and the proposed animal...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. It is something I am currently considering as part of the animal welfare plan. So, I've asked officials—the chief veterinary officer and her officers—to look at a five-year animal welfare plan for Wales so that we can build on the progress that we've made on animal welfare, certainly over the past 16 or so years, and my plan is to introduce an animal welfare plan later this...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. The Government’s response to the review was published on 4 March 2020. To address the recommendations, officials are working closely with local authorities on tackling barriers to enforcement, enhanced training, better guidance and improved use of resources within local authorities, as part of a three-year Welsh Government-funded project.
Lesley Griffiths: In relation to the last question, around meeting with you to discuss NRW, that actually falls within the portfolio of the Minister for Climate Change—she has responsibility for NRW. So, I would suggest you write to her to ask in relation to that specific part of your question. In relation to the poultry farms and the pollution around the River Wye, as I said, preventing pollution from...
Lesley Griffiths: I will certainly agree with both of your statements. I would never say that all pollution is caused by agricultural practices. There are many sources of pollution, and I would say the majority of farmers absolutely care for the environment. However, we are seeing unacceptable limits of agricultural pollution—and I referred to the regulations that came into force earlier this year. In...
Lesley Griffiths: I absolutely agree with the Member, and we do have concerns around the River Wye at the moment. You ask whether we'll see an improvement in our rivers. What I want to see is an improvement on the scale that we've seen with our bathing waters, for instance, where we've made huge improvement strides. I will certainly want to see that with the rivers. I am working closely with the Minister for...
Lesley Griffiths: Pollution of any kind impacts us all and we must tackle it for the benefit of our environment and communities. On 27 January this year, I introduced the Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021, and initial measures came into force on 1 April.
Lesley Griffiths: This is something I've obviously discussed many times with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary of State and with the UK Government as a whole, certainly as we approached the EU transition period. Sometimes the UK Government's answer was, 'We'll send in the navy', which I don't think was the answer at all. But any illegal fishing is unacceptable. What we did as a...
Lesley Griffiths: We've certainly increased the number of marine enforcement officers that we as a Government have, and, in north Wales, it has increased also over the last couple of years. The number of onshore inspections has increased significantly. Just in this year alone, up until the middle of October, obviously, we've had 350 onshore inspections, and that compares to 310 in 2020. So, we are seeing far...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. The Welsh Government monitors and, where necessary, enforces compliance with fisheries regulations through a range of assurance and inspection activities. These include patrols, surveillance and inspections onshore and at sea, and we also take appropriate and proportionate legal action.
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. I think that is the most important of your three questions, and it's something that I've always taken a very close and particular interest in since I've been in this portfolio. Because whilst the agricultural sector and farming communities are some of the most close-knit groups I've ever met, you can see that when you're on a farm you sometimes are a bit isolated. Particularly...
Lesley Griffiths: I quite agree; sheep scab is a very complex and difficult disease. I don't think it's just down to the Welsh Government; I think it is down to the industry together. Certainly, we have been working together to do that. Unfortunately, because of decisions I had to take regarding the budget in relation to COVID, I wasn't able to put that funding forward, but certainly I am having discussions...
Lesley Griffiths: You make some very pertinent points around the price of wool. I'm trying to think—I think it was the end of the last term of Government where we saw the wool prices really drop and I had meetings with the British wool authority to try and see what we could do to help Wales. I made representations to the UK Government along with ministerial colleagues from Scotland. Certainly, the Minister...
Lesley Griffiths: It's a formula that is done with the Welsh Government and local authorities, and until local authorities request—. And I've been local government Minister and I was never met with a request to have a look at the formula, because they know, if you've got—[Interruption.] If you've got a list of 22 local authorities, somebody's going to be at the top and somebody's going to be at the bottom,...
Lesley Griffiths: Well, there could be a short answer, and the short answer is 'no', but I will give you the benefit of the doubt and try and engage in a much more positive way with you. You are cherry-picking. So, you referred to local authorities, for instance. You know how local authorities are funded—you know that. It's a formula. We've just heard the Minister for Finance and Local Government explain to...
Lesley Griffiths: Well, Darren Millar knows that that is absolutely not true. I'm a Member from north-east Wales and I would never allow that to happen. The fact that we have a Minister for north Wales and we have had for a significant number of years, with a Cabinet sub-committee for north Wales, absolutely shows that, so please don't mislead in that way. You say that they're in the deep freeze; they're not...
Lesley Griffiths: So, you will be aware that the Deputy Minister for Climate Change has brought forward a road review. That has not yet reported, but, obviously, once that reports, we can see what schemes will continue to proceed and we can look at the funding issues then.
