Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:47 pm on 8 March 2017.
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?