Diolch, Llywydd. I very much welcome the committee’s report, and would like to thank Members for—. It really is an excellent report and I think that’s reflected in the fact that I’ve been able to accept, or accept in principle, all the recommendations. So, I think we’re already making progress on some of the recommendations. I, too, would like to thank Mark Reckless for his work as Chairman and to welcome Mike Hedges to his new role.

As the report recognises, farming accounts for the management of over 80 per cent of our land in Wales and, therefore, the future of our environment and the future of agriculture are fully intertwined. I think Members have raised some really important points this afternoon, and I will try to respond to as many as possible in the time allowed. Our White Paper, ‘Securing Wales’ Future’, outlines our views on the future of agriculture and the environment post Brexit. We are absolutely clear these are, and must remain, devolved. We will not tolerate any attempts by the UK Government to deprive this Assembly of its existing powers or deprive Wales of any funding. We will have our own Wales agriculture policy and I’ve made that very clear since we had the referendum back in June. It is essential—Members have referred to this—that Welsh Government plays a full part in discussions to ensure the UK negotiating position fully reflects the very specific Welsh context we have. Colleagues will be aware that I’ve been actively engaging with the UK Government and devolved administrations through regular ministerial meetings. We have had a hiatus. Simon Thomas referred to the fact that it’s been three months since the report came out, and what’s happened? Well, we have had a big pause of two months. We’ve lost an enormous amount of time over the general election campaign.

I’ve had the opportunity now to speak to the new Secretary of State at DEFRA. Colleagues will be aware I mentioned that the June monthly meeting was pulled. We’ve now got the July one reinstated, following discussions by myself and my Scottish counterpart, because it is really important now we get on with this. We’re over a year since the referendum, article 50 was triggered back in March, and we really need to be making some progress. As a Welsh Government, it’s been a huge focus for me. It’s a huge focus for my officials. We are looking at scenarios. We’ve looked at the cliff edge that somebody referred to. We’re looking at all scenarios so that we are absolutely ready when discussions begin again.

I have acknowledged that UK-wide frameworks may be needed and I still believe that to be the case. But I will not tolerate the imposition of such frameworks by Westminster and Whitehall. All four nations have to agree collectively any UK-wide arrangements and devolution must be respected, and any UK position that’s come to must reflect the interests of the UK as a whole. I made it very clear, when I spoke to Michael Gove, that he needs to be very clear when he’s talking for the UK and when he’s talking for England.

I think one of the opportunities, because we have to look for opportunities in this, is that this—. Somebody mentioned it was once in a lifetime—I think it was Mike Hedges who said it. I think there is a unique opportunity for our stakeholders to help us shape policies going forward, particularly in agriculture and fisheries and environment. So, that was one of the reasons I immediately set up the ministerial round-table group—we meet again on Monday—so that we can have that input from our stakeholders. I think the work of the round table has added significant value and it’s really enabled a cross-sectorial approach so we haven’t had people working in silos. I think, again, we’ve led the way across the UK in that stakeholder engagement. We’ve really considered issues and looked at issues and discussed issues in a much more integrated way. We have got a number of sub-groups that have recently come about from the stakeholder group and one of them is on land management. That will provide further focus to this area of work.

Jenny Rathbone mentioned that things have become slightly clearer. I think slightly clearer is the way forward. For instance, the UK Government just talked about the great repeal Bill prior to the election. Then, suddenly, last week in the Queen’s Speech, we heard there was going to be an agriculture and fisheries Bill, which we hadn’t heard before. We were being reassured that the great repeal Bill would be able to contain everything and we’d go from there. We didn’t think it would, and clearly the UK Government have come to that view also.

Just turning to funding—and several Members raised funding—earlier in the election campaign, the Prime Minister visited a farm in north-east Wales and she declined to commit to protecting support for farmers after 2020. That has now gone to 2022, so, in answer to Simon Thomas’s question, whereas I confirmed agricultural support up to 2020, we can now confirm it up to 2021—obviously, the lifetime of this Welsh Government. But we need to keep pressing on this, because we were told that the agricultural sector would not lose a penny if we left the EU, so that is a point I keep making.

I think the lack of a commitment post 2022 raises a lot of worries about long-term investment, because, when you talk to farmers, they have to look very long term—years and years—and I know it is a concern not just to farmers but to land managers, rural businesses, and rural communities, because they have to plan effectively. So, whilst we are waiting for further detail, I think it’s up to the Welsh Government to do all we can to protect our rural communities.

Paul Davies mentioned that, when I went to committee, I talked about the small grant. Well, that’s the £40 million business farm grant; I didn’t like the word ‘small’ grant, so we’ve renamed it business farm grant, and I launched that in April, which is £40 million—£10 million per year for four years. That will enable farmers to invest in vital equipment and technology to help their businesses become more resilient, because that’s what we all want to see—an agricultural sector that’s sustainable, vibrant, and resilient.

Jenny Rathbone mentioned about diversification. Last Thursday, I visited a farm just outside of Llanrwst where the farmer has diversified now into tree planting, and he’d planted 85,000 trees since March. It was absolutely brilliant to see this, and that’s the type of diversification we want to see and support.

I’ve also fully committed the remaining £223 million of our rural development programme, which will provide some much-needed financial reassurance.

Again, I’ve continually stated how vital full and unfettered access to Europe’s single market is to Wales’s economic success. Trade is obviously a reserved issue, and that’s why it is so important we’ve engaged. So, it’s not just myself that’s engaging but also, obviously, the First Minister through JMC Plenary and Mark Drakeford through JMC EU. Some two thirds of identifiable Welsh exports go to EU countries, and any significant reduction in access to the single market we know will be damaging. So, again, we’ve urged the UK Government to adopt this as a top priority for negotiation with the EU.

Some Members mentioned the food and drink sector. It’s hugely valuable to Wales and employs, if you think about everybody—from restaurants and food processing factories, abattoirs, agriculture—0.25 million people in Wales. The UK Government seem to prioritise deals with other countries over maintaining our access to the single market, which is of concern, and they do appear willing to sacrifice sectors such as red meat in the interest of quick wins with countries like the USA and New Zealand, who are very keen to access our markets. By contrast, a key consideration for us is UK producers not being undercut by imports where production standards are poor, and where consumers are put at risk. The UK market is also very important to us, and I absolutely believe UK Government must play its role in safeguarding our food and agricultural industries across all sectors and regions of Wales.

We’ve also sought to influence UK Government departments to promote our products through international trade work, and we also undertake significant trade efforts to develop the export market for food and drink ourselves, and I will continue to have a focus on that. Hybu Cig Cymru obviously promote our red meat, and we’ve just had a new board in place. I’ll be announcing a new chair, hopefully in the very near future, also, because the focus needs to remain on that.

So, I just want to reassure Members that I will continue to face the challenge that we all have, and absolutely want to assure our stakeholders that I will speak up for Wales forcibly at every opportunity. Diolch.