7. Will the First Minister make a statement on the future of the rural development plan? OAQ(5)0117(FM)[W]

We know, of course, that this supports rural communities and the economy with a combination of Welsh Government and EU funding. Given the lack of assurances from the UK Government to date over replacing EU funding and programme continuity, I cannot predict its long-term future.

Well, thanks for that response. It was very interesting, if I may say so, because your skills Minister, in response to a question from me following a statement last week, made it clear that she is continuing to plan programmes on the basis that the funding will come to Wales. If it doesn’t come from the EU, then she’s expecting it to come, according to the pledges made, from the UK Government. But, the following day, the Cabinet Secretary for rural affairs announced that programmes such as Glastir, post 2018, were to be deferred because of uncertainty. That suggests to me that you don’t have much of a strategy as a Government in terms of how you’re responding to the decision following the referendum. Can you tell us if the left hand knows what the right hand is doing?

We know what we’re doing. We are going to continue with the capital schemes, for instance, in order to progress with those. But as regards the revenue programmes and schemes, it’s a much more complicated pictures But it’s quite evident that, if we see a cut of £600 million in the Assembly’s budget year on year over the ensuing years, there will be a very negative impact on some of the projects that we have.

First Minister, I appreciate that you have met with representatives of the agricultural industry last week to discuss concerns following the result of the referendum on the European Union and I support your calls for farming support payments and funding for rural communities to be safeguarded for the future. Now, bearing in mind that the European Union will still be a major trading partner for our farmers for the future, can you tell us what discussions your Government has had to date with the UK Government, and also with the EU Commissioner, to ensure that plans such as the rural development programme can continue?

Well, there is no guarantee at all. We know that the Commission cannot play its part as regards European funding at present. There is no assurance from the UK Government, so there is no certainty at all for the people of Wales. It’s important that we get this assurance as soon as possible in order to give our farmers some assurance. For example, we know that £260 million will be coming into Wales as regards payments to farmers, but at the moment there is no money left after we leave the European Union. So, assurance for farmers is crucially important.

On the same theme as the last two questions, I note that, within my own constituency and the constituency of the First Minister, we’ve just had the announcement as part of rural development of grants of up to £100,000 for individual regeneration schemes. It often surprises people that in a constituency like mine in Ogmore, a former mining and heavy industry constituency, that all but two of the wards in my constituency are rural. We have 40 per cent of upland hill farming, so we have pillar 1 and pillar 2 funding as well. But that pillar 2 funding has been crucial for rural regeneration, controversial as it is—the allocations. So, could I ask him, in his discussions with the UK Government, is he stressing to them the importance of making good any shortfall in the immediacy of programmes that are already committed to, but also in the longer term? Because we need to make sure that we have that backfill shortfall filled by the UK Government in order that we can keep those schemes progressing for many years to come. It’s critical for the regeneration of my communities and his.

We have made that point. The issue for us is this: in future, agricultural policy will be wholly autonomous and wholly devolved. We’re not going to brook interference from Westminster in that regard. It’s a matter entirely for the people of Wales, the people of Scotland and indeed England to decide what sort of agricultural policy should be pursued. The difficulty is, of course, the money. How will the money be distributed? We need to make sure that there is a guarantee from the UK Government that Wales will secure at least its current share of funding. My great fear is that there will be an attempt to Barnettise funding for agriculture, which means a substantial reduction in funding for Welsh agriculture. The sooner that Welsh farmers get the certainty from the UK Government that they need, the better.