Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:39 pm on 12 October 2016.
Thank you. Moving to another environmental scheme—section 15 agreements for sites of special scientific interest. On average, farmers get about £2,175 a year in payments under these agreements, and they are absolutely vital for the protection of landscape, wildlife and the environment. There is a budget cut from 2011 of about a quarter of the budget. In August, Natural Resources Wales said only about 118 of 172 individual management agreements up for renewal this year are likely to be given a new contract. Is the Cabinet Secretary able to give us any further information on this and would she agree with me that it would certainly be very advantageous not just to the farmers themselves, but also to anybody interested in rural life particularly in the uplands that they should be renewed?