Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 2:09 pm on 20 September 2017.
Cabinet Secretary, I’ve been contacted by a constituent with concerns about the administration fees charged by consultants to conduct work under the Farming Connect business advice grant—or, if I’m incorrect, as you stated—. It seems to be that, in some cases, consultants are taking up to 20 per cent of the total grant in administration fees. Are you prepared to have a look at this and investigate it and potentially put a cap on administration fees so that as much of the funding reaches the front line and reaches the farmer as possible, rather than lining consultants’ pockets? I’d be interested to hear if this issue has been raised with you previously and I’d be happy to provide you with some examples.