Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:49 pm on 20 February 2019.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 1:49, 20 February 2019

I go back: the question the Member asked me is about a decision not being taken in my department, so I can't answer that question. As I say—[Interruption.] You asked me a question about when a decision was going to be taken. I cannot answer that question; it is not in my department.

So, you ask me what confidence I've got in my department. I've got a great deal of confidence in my department. But I have to say, Brexit, which so many members of your group supported, has added a level of work that you cannot begin to imagine. I've had 45 new officials. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs alone has had 1,300 new officials. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has had 700 new officials, just to help with Brexit. So, I have great confidence in my officials who are working flat out to make sure we've got an agricultural Bill.

'Brexit and our land' consultation came forward last year. I had hoped to bring the White Paper forward in the spring; I've now said the summer because I want to ensure that we analyse the responses we've had in a thorough way. There were some very, very good thought-provoking ideas coming forward. We need to give them due consideration, and I think it's better not to rush this. I have said, as has the First Minister, that I will bring an agricultural Bill forward in this term. It's got to fit in with the legislative programme, it has to fit in—it's obviously a whole-Cabinet decision, but both I and the First Minister have said that we'll bring an agricultural Bill forward this term.

In the interim, I have made sure that we've taken temporary powers through the UK Government Agriculture Bill to make sure that we can pay farmers, for instance. You too mentioned the letter from WWF—it's not just Plaid Cymru that had it. Frankly, I was quite surprised at that letter because, again, they know how our Environment (Wales) Act 2016 and how the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 have embedded sustainable development in everything that we do in the Welsh Government in a way that other Governments haven't.