Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:43 pm on 13 June 2018.

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Photo of Mr Neil Hamilton Mr Neil Hamilton UKIP 1:43, 13 June 2018

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I'm sure the Cabinet Secretary will agree with me that it's regrettable that the UK Government has not made more progress in seeking consensus from devolved administrations on the future of farm support post Brexit. This is very important to clarify at the earliest opportunity. Michael Gove has said that he wants to seek a consensus with us. He's also said that farm support should be based more upon the industry's needs and not Barnettised, which, again, I think we can all agree on. But the Welsh Government will have, once the implementation period is completed, significant freedom to diverge from UK Government policy, where that's in the interest of Wales, and one area in particular I'd like to explore with the Cabinet Secretary is the possibility of introducing headage payments for upland farms. These farms are not economically viable by themselves—that's obvious from all the topographical and other difficulties that farmers have to cope with—and if we are to continue to farm the hills of Wales to produce good-quality meat in particular, they will require this kind of support. So, is the Welsh Government in favour, in principle, of having headage payments on the hills?