Questions now from the party spokespeople. Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Simon Thomas.

Cabinet Secretary, we were reminded again yesterday, in evidence from Public Health Wales, about the fact that air pollution is a public health crisis in Wales, causing something in the region of 2,000 deaths per annum. Six per cent of all deaths in Wales are as a result of air pollution, which is second only as a cause of death to smoking. So, what is the Government doing to ensure that our efforts on air quality are retained as we leave the European Union and lose some of the most important regulations in this context?

Thank you. It’s very clear to me that we definitely need a concerted effort across all sectors to address this very important issue. We need some radical solutions and I’ve made it very clear that, within my portfolio, this is one of my top priorities.

You will be aware that we’ve just had a recent consultation on local air quality, and I will be bringing forward a written statement before the end of this month regarding the responses that we’ve received. I think that, by leaving the EU, if anything, we will increase our targets. I think that air quality, as you say, affects so many of our aspects of our life, including our well-being and our health. But, as I say, I think we do need to have a real concerted effort in this area.

Thank you for that response. I am pleased to hear that you are putting this at the top of your list of priorities, because there is nothing more prominent in your own portfolio that also has an impact on the daily lives of so many of us living in areas where air pollution is a problem. You’ve mentioned that this needs to be done across Government. The Public Health (Wales) Bill is currently being considered by the Assembly. At the moment, that Bill doesn’t include any reference to air pollution or to tackling air pollution as a matter of public health. Although you’re not the Cabinet Secretary responsible for that Bill, of course, what are you doing, in negotiation with your fellow Cabinet Secretaries, in order to ensure that this Bill helps you to address the issue of air pollution in Wales?

Those discussions have taken place, and it is obviously, as you say, something, as it’s going through the Assembly, that we can look at, because there is nothing more important, obviously, from a public health point of view, than air quality. As you say, we were reminded very sharply of that yesterday.

I hope that those discussions do lead to a little more joined-up thinking on that Bill, and, of course, the whole Assembly will get the opportunity to amend it, if necessary. But can I also return to the issue of Aberthaw power station, on which, when I last questioned you and the First Minister on this, I was told that Natural Resources Wales had now contacted the owners of Aberthaw and had asked them to come forward by, I think, now with a proposal for how they would reduce their unlawful emissions, which have been found so by the European Court of Justice. Can you update the Assembly on developments in Aberthaw and whether you are now content that there’s a programme in place to reduce those harmful emissions?

I am meeting NRW next week—I think it’s on the fifteenth—to discuss that, but I will be very happy to update after that meeting.

The Welsh Conservatives’ spokesperson, Paul Davies.

Diolch, Lywydd. Cabinet Secretary, your predecessor commissioned the independent review of the dairy sector in Wales, which detailed a number of recommendations to help support the dairy industry and increase its competitiveness. Following that report, can you update us on the progress that the Welsh Government has made in responding to that review and outline what outcomes you’ve delivered to make the dairy industry in Wales more competitive?

I think we have seen progress in relation to the dairy sector following that review, which, as you say, my predecessor undertook. One of the recommendation’s that came out of it was that we should have a dairy champion. I’m very keen to take this forward and, at the current time, we are trying to identify the most suitable and appropriate person to do that.

Another recommendation in that review was to raise the issue of taxation of agricultural businesses in Wales and to take a deeper look at the current regime and whether it hinders future investment in the sector. In a recent response to a written question, you said that the delivery of this recommendation has been delayed and that this should be looked at in partnership with other parts of the UK, with which I agree. Can you now update us on this specific agenda and tell us what the Welsh Government is intending to deliver in terms of outcomes on this particular issue?

I can’t give you an update on that at the current time. Those discussions are ongoing. Indeed, officials from the four nations are currently meeting, as we speak. I’m not sure if this is on the agenda, but this is something certainly that officials are looking at right across the UK.

I’d encourage, obviously, the Cabinet Secretary to put it on the agenda, given that it was one of the recommendations in this particular review. The independent review was also quite right in recognising that there are significant cash flow problems for some farmers within the dairy sector, although I’m sure that that’s also an issue for dairy farmers across the UK. Indeed, this matter is not helped by the fact that there are high input costs for dairy farmers and there’s very little support from the Welsh Government to secure funding for capital improvements. Will you, therefore, commit to evaluating the costs attached to dairy farming in Wales, and look at ways in which the Welsh Government can provide support to dairy farmers through additional capital investment support to help to improve the efficiency and therefore the viability of the sector for the future?

Yes, it’s an area that we’re looking at. You’ll be aware of the new small grants scheme, but we’re going to call that ‘farm grants’ so as not to mix it up with the rural development programme. This is an area, perhaps, where we will be able to help dairy farmers specifically.

UKIP spokesperson, Neil Hamilton.

Diolch, Lywydd. Brexit is probably going to have a greater impact on agriculture than almost any other sector, obviously because it’s regulated under the common agricultural policy and funded largely through the European Union. The Government, therefore, has to be thinking ahead very deeply about what’s going to be our agricultural regime after we’ve left the European Union.

I’ve been reading the minutes of the European advisory group, which the First Minister established six months ago, to see what their thinking is, and I was surprised to discover that agriculture hasn’t featured at all, as yet, in their considerations. That may be related to the fact that there’s only one member who has any recognisable agricultural credentials amongst those who have been appointed to it. So, I wonder whether this indicates that the Welsh Government isn’t, perhaps, terribly interested in the future of agriculture in our country.

Not at all and I think the agriculture sector would tell the Member how pleased they are with the stakeholder engagement that we’ve had. You’ll be aware that straight after the vote to leave the European Union I began stakeholder events. At the end of this month we’ll have, I think, either the sixth or the seventh one. Ministerial engagement is very firmly now set in our calendars. We meet once a month, so, during recess, all the agriculture and environment Ministers met in Scotland.

We are working very closely together. I mentioned that officials from all four UK countries are currently meeting as we speak, so there’s been a huge amount of input into the future of agriculture. During recess, I attended the National Farmers Union conference in Birmingham, where I held a debate with George Eustice, the UK agriculture Minister, and I have to say that the Welsh delegates made it very clear that we are far in advance of any other country with our engagement.

Well, I’m very pleased to hear that, and I can say from my own experience that, talking to people who are involved in groups that represent agriculture and farming, they’re pleased with the level of engagement that you have given them. But I don’t know whether you’ve yet had a chance to read the policy statement on Brexit that has been published by NFU Cymru, but one of the positive things that they say in there is that leaving the European Union gives us the opportunity to review the regulations that currently affect farming and agriculture, and they say that poor regulation is the reason for a lack of farm business confidence—and this is related to the costs of compliance, and time given over to compliance and to demonstrating compliance. These add significantly to farmers’ workloads.

So, without wanting to throw the baby out with the bathwater and get rid of all regulation, it is a great opportunity for us to review the effectiveness of regulation and whether it imposes disproportionate costs for the public benefits that are supposed to flow from it. Can the Cabinet Secretary tell the Assembly that the Welsh Government will look seriously at reviewing regulation and reducing its impact on farmers without compromising public safety and other objectives?

Well, we’re going to have to review it, because, clearly, when all of the powers from the EU come back to Wales, we will then have the opportunity to have our Welsh agricultural policy. Clearly, regulation—if you ask many farmers who did vote ‘leave’ why they voted ‘leave’, regulation is cited as one of the reasons. I don’t think it helped that the UK Tory—or some of the UK Tory Ministers were saying that we would be decreasing particularly our environmental regulations. That is not going to happen, and I’ve made that very clear—if anything, we will strengthen them.

But I think it is a very good opportunity to have a look at regulation, talking in partnership with the sector, to make sure that the regulation is correct. Again, that’s one of the things that we are talking about in our stakeholder events.

I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that answer. Brexit does give us the freedom to introduce new regulations and controls as well in areas where we might have wished to do so but had been thwarted in the past by the lack of enthusiasm on part of our other partners in the European Union. One of these areas is the live export of animals, for example, which we’ve been prevented from banning and also introducing regulations in relation to animal welfare, for example, the maximum eight-hour journey time for animals travelling, for fattening and slaughter. So, can the Cabinet Secretary give me an assurance that measures of this kind may be on the agenda as well?

I think everything is on the agenda, to be perfectly honest with you. We are wading through a huge amount of regulations and legislation just in agriculture and fisheries. In my own portfolio, there are 5,000 pieces of legislation and regulations. So, I think, you know, we are—. I have said that I really want to work very closely with the sector to make sure we have the absolute best policy. But one thing we have made very clear to UK Government, time after time, is that when those powers come from the EU, the powers are ours—they’re not theirs to be repatriated. They are ours from the beginning and we will ensure that we have a fit-for-purpose policy.