Questions now from the party spokespeople. The first question is from the Conservative spokesperson, David Melding.

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Can I pursue this point about the role plastics play in generating so much waste and destruction of our environment? Reference has been made to the excellent action of Iceland, and that supermarket actually conducted a very extensive survey before they took that action, and 80 per cent of the people they polled said they would endorse moves to go plastic free. I think, responding to such a public sentiment, the UK Government has committed to working with the Waste and Resources Action Programme to explore the introduction of, for instance, plastic-free supermarket aisles in which all the food is loose. I think we need this type of thinking. I wonder what plans you have to review the Towards Zero Waste programme to make it more ambitious and to reflect this growing public demand for action.

Thank you very much for that question. You're absolutely right that it is a bold move for a major retailer like Iceland, and hopefully that will also stimulate others within the sector to actually take their lead as well. I think that's when we do have some healthy competition in terms of actually ticking the boxes, and, actually, you can see a shift in people being more aware of the packaging and what they're buying.

In terms of our Towards Zero Waste strategy, there is a plan to refresh that later this year as we increase our targets and our ambitions in terms of how we look into practice. Hopefully, the extended producer responsibility study and the work we're doing with WRAP will all feed into a part of that.

Minister, you may know that the UK Government's 25-year plan includes a pledge to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042. They also have a goal to eliminate all avoidable waste by 2050. The latter—all avoidable waste by 2050—is also contained in Towards Zero Waste, but there's no earlier deadline for the elimination of plastic waste. I just wonder if you're going to review the document so that we could have something that at least matches the ambition of the UK Government or, even better, given our increased ambition perhaps in this area, that beats it.

The Welsh Government, and here in Wales, we are proud that we have led the way in the past in terms of bringing the plastic bag charge and plastic packaging in that respect. We are continuing to work with industries and local authorities to find better markets in Wales especially for plastics. There are great opportunities in Wales for businesses to look at how they can get involved with the plastics recycling industry. Of course, when we're refreshing the strategy, we will look at how we actually can create more ambitious targets, but not just the aspirations in those targets but actually the actions that we need to take over the course of the short, medium and long term to make sure that we do actually lead the way again in Wales.

I just wonder if we need to completely look at a different scale in terms of what's happening out there. You're seeing this incredible social and commercial movement to address this problem, and it's the politicians who are perhaps falling a bit behind, and in particular—in this area anyway—the Welsh Government. We've heard from Wetherspoon that they're going to ban plastic straws and they're going to bring in biodegradable ones. This obviously introduces the whole question of single-use plastics. You've told us what's happening with the review into producer-led initiatives, but isn't it time we raised the stakes and just started a very bold consultation on banning single-use plastics within a set time from our economy?

The Member again raises some very important points on that and prescient points on that. I'm loath to name-check the many more major corporate companies, but another well-known fast food brand has, I believe, also announced that they're looking to remove straws and other plastics in the next couple of decades.

I think we need to be bold in our ambition, and when we look at refreshing the strategy we should look at how we achieve that, but I think it's really important that we do work with industry on this, that industry is involved with it. It also creates opportunities in terms of recycling and in terms of the skills and jobs that we have here in Wales as well.

The Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Simon Thomas.

Thank you very much, Llywydd. I will remain on the topic of plastics as it is all around us. Just to pick up on what David Melding said, I think it is true to say that citizens and communities are ahead of some politicians in this area. I look at communities such as Aberporth who have declared themselves to be plastic-free and are working across small businesses and across the community to achieve that, and I welcome that. Of course, this Assembly just last week, on a Plaid Cymru motion, voted in favour of the principle of introducing a single-use plastic tax. This is something we haven't discussed yet today. So, as the single-use plastic tax is one of the four taxes you as a Government are considering, will you commit now to go along that route and to select that tax because the public, very clearly, are willing to accept such a tax?

Thank you for your question.

As you'll be aware, the disposable plastic tax is one of four taxes currently being considered by the finance Secretary. I think that's probably a question for him further down the line, but it is something I am in discussions on with the finance Secretary, and also keeping in the loop on and linked in with the proposals that you saw in the UK Government's budget on the twenty-second, to look at something similar there, to see how we can feed in as part of that as well. So, it is something that's still on the agenda, and in ongoing discussions. I'm sure the finance Secretary will look at it. 

I don't think I'm going to get a commitment to a plastic tax out of you today, so I'll change tack, if I may, to something else that you as a Minister are also responsible for, which is air pollution. ClientEarth is taking the Welsh Government to court by 23 February, due to concerns of illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide in towns and cities, often emerging, of course, from diesel vehicles. Do you recognise the problem of air pollution in Wales? I presume you do, but do you recognise your responsibility in your Government to deal with this, and how, particularly, will you respond to this court case and respond to the claims of ClientEarth?

The Member is right. Air quality is something—. Actually, the first debate in this portfolio that I led was on air quality. It is a commitment and remains a priority. You refer to the ClientEarth case. I can't comment on that in detail at the moment, as it's an ongoing case. But, actually, in terms of our aspirations in the clean air plan that we've set out, it's not just about meeting those obligations. It's actually making sure that we pave the way for the future and we go above and beyond. We know how important air quality is. Poor air quality impacts, obviously, on the most vulnerable communities, and it is really important that we take action on this.

In the debate, we did outline the clean air plan for Wales, which includes clean air zone frameworks. We are going to be working with local government, and you heard in the budget yesterday there is additional funding for that as well. It's also actually using all the levers we have at our disposal, as well as encouraging the UK Government to press forward on areas where they can take action, such as phasing out diesel vehicles.

I think it's really important that there's a commitment to work across Government on that. Whereas air quality is considered an environmental issue, it can't be tackled that way alone. So, it's really important that we work across, looking at transport, for low-emission vehicles, and look at our infrastructure, and make sure that when developments are taking place, air quality provision is taken into account when that happens.

Well, indeed, it might be seen as an environmental issue, but it's as much a public health issue as anything else. In fact, the Assembly voted, in that debate that you just referred to, again for a Plaid Cymru amendment that called on the Welsh Government to treat air pollution as a public health issue as well as an environmental issue. You're not responsible for public health, I know, but across Government, clearly this needs to be joined up.

The Scottish Government has said that it wants to go in front of the Westminster Government in terms of phasing out new petrol and diesel by 2032. We have examples around Europe of cities phasing out diesel and petrol vehicles in a much shorter space of time than the Westminster Government's talked about. Is it not the time to at least consider pilot areas in Wales where diesel and petrol may actually be banned, either on specific days or specific times, in order to achieve some improvement in air quality in those areas that, to be frank, the current system just isn't tackling, and there are public health deaths quite directly as a result of that?

The Member is quite right to raise the public health concerns on this. Like he said, it's very clear that it's always been perceived to be an environmental issue, but, actually, if we're going to get to the root cause and tackle it and improve our air quality, it does have to involve cross-Government and cross-government working as well, in terms of local government and the UK Government.

In terms of looking at areas or zones where perhaps you could ban or limit access for high-emission vehicles, that's something that could be considered under clean air zones. But what we made clear in the debate too is that the clean air zones are not a one-size-fits-all approach. There will be different problems, and therefore different ways that we can best tackle it in different areas across Wales.    

UKIP spokesperson, Neil Hamilton.

Diolch, Llywydd. Capable and competent as the Minister is in answering her questions, I want to give the Cabinet Secretary her moment in the sun today as well and move to different areas of policy. I know we have differing views about the virtues of EU membership generally, but I hope that the Cabinet Secretary will agree with me that being outside the common agricultural policy, and the common fisheries policy, and the single market does give us the opportunity to have high standards of animal welfare than obtained in many areas of the EU, and in one area in particular, in relation to fishing. At the moment, the EU permits something called electric pulse fishing, which involves putting an electric current through the water—usually about 60 amps; so, it’s quite high intensity—and stunning fish, which are then dragged by nets into the boats. This has a number of unfortunate effects, not least on the fish themselves, because that method tends to break fish's spines and cause a great deal of internal haemorrhage. The trawling at the sea bed denudes it of all wildlife. And traditional catches are caught up in this as well and are discarded. If we recover policy responsibility for this area, we'd be able to ban electric pulse fishing. I wonder if the Welsh Government will commit itself to that.

You're quite right when you say that we have very differing views around Brexit, but I’ve always said that we would look at opportunities. I think we have very high animal health and welfare standards in Wales, and I would certainly not want to see those drop at all.

In relation to your specific question about banning that specific type of fishing, it’s certainly something that I will be considering in great detail.

I’m grateful to the Cabinet Secretary for that answer. Another area that could also lead to an improvement in animal welfare is if we banned the live export of animals. At the moment, the EU estimates that around 4 million cattle, 28 million pigs, 4 million sheep, 243 million poultry, and 150,000 horses are transported for more than eight hours within the EU. Once we're out of the EU, we will be able to stop the British element of that. I know there’s not a great deal of that which comes from Wales, but nevertheless, every little helps, as a famous supermarket says, and we will be able to make our contribution to the improvement of an important element of animal welfare.

Yes, absolutely, and certainly, my preference would be for animals to be slaughtered as close as is practical to their point of production, and I think that, again, that is something that, as you say, doesn’t have a huge effect on Welsh exports. However, it doesn’t matter how small it is; I would certainly want to have a focus on that.

I'm grateful again to the Cabinet Secretary. This note of amity is very welcome in the Assembly, I’m sure everybody will agree.

The third area in which I think we ought to be able to improve animal welfare is by the installation of CCTV cameras in abattoirs in Wales. The larger ones already do this, but the smaller ones on the whole don’t. Out of the 29 abattoirs in Wales, I believe there are 18 that are not monitored by CCTV, and they are generally the smaller ones. But it seems to me very important, and I think important for farmers generally and the agriculture industry generally, that the public has confidence in the food that is put on the table and the methods by which it is produced and processed, and in order to keep up public support for farmers and agriculture generally, we need to be proactive in showing that animals are kept and, when they are killed, also are killed in a humane way and to the highest possible standards of animal welfare. So, this is an area in which the Welsh Government could take an initiative, even at the moment, before we leave the EU. I wonder if the Cabinet Secretary would give further consideration to extending the existing controls.

Absolutely. I had a meeting this morning with the chief veterinary officer on this very topic, because, you will be aware, we had the consultation previously. England are looking to do this; Scotland are looking to do this. I have to say that the vast majority of certainly large slaughterhouses do have CCTV, but I am very keen to look at making it mandatory, to see what package of support would have to be made available, because I think that is the way to improve standards and practices and keep that confidence that the public have. So, I’ve got officials working very closely on this matter, and I will be bringing forward a statement to this place in the not-too-distant future.