5. Statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs: The Bovine TB Eradication Programme

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:14 pm on 30 April 2019.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 5:14, 30 April 2019

Diolch, Llyr, for those questions. I did promise I would bring forward a statement following the refreshed programme within this timescale, so the reason for that statement today is due to that promise. But I don't disagree with you, that it it would have been helpful to have had that field work report, and certainly, when I get the report, I'd be very happy to make that information publicly available; whether it be via an oral statement or a written statement obviously will be dependent on timescales.

Looking at different approaches is very important. In fact, the chief veterinary officer is, after this statement today, going to Dublin to talk with colleagues there and, clearly, I'm aware of the report that came out in England, the bovine TB strategy review. And, if you look at a great deal of the work that is in that review, we have it embedded in our TB eradication programme, so I was really pleased to see that key aspects of our programme are already being pursued here and are reflected within the report. I understand that DEFRA are responding to that report in the autumn and I certainly will be very interested to see what they say.

In relation to compensation, you're right, we did lower compensation when we launched the eradication programme. The answer I gave to Andrew R.T. Davies—I was trying to explain that I wasn't linking completely with Brexit, but, you're right, we are going to lose about 10 per cent of our funding, possibly, although, of course, we were told that we would not lose a penny if we left the European Union. I had that conversation yesterday with my UK counterparts when we met as part of our regular quadrilaterals; we met here in Cardiff yesterday. So, it's about looking ahead to see whether I'm going to have to find that funding from my own budget or whether we, as promised, will receive every penny and then that issue won't be there.

I did reduce the cap, you may remember, to £5,000 when we refreshed the TB eradication programme and we knew that the change probably would not affect a majority of farmers, and I have to say now I understand that it has saved us about £49,500 in relation to that cap being reduced. So, it's not a huge amount, but, again, I think it's about driving good practice and not rewarding bad practice also.

You asked about veterinary surgeons and you're absolutely right. If you look at the Government ones within the Animal and Plant Health Agency, I think 100 per cent of our vets are EU nationals, so it's a huge matter of concern and something that I've taken up, at every opportunity I've had, with Michael Gove. And, clearly, they share our concerns, because they're in exactly the same position as we are—maybe not 100 per cent, but certainly the majority of their vets are EU nationals.

In relation to vaccination, you'll be aware of the five-year programme that we had and we achieved four years of it, but then we had—the global supply of the vaccination was obviously not available. It's now becoming available again and we are looking to do that. In fact, we've had a window open where people could apply for it, to do it on a private basis. I think the window actually closes today, but certainly we've had that offer there, and, again, you will have heard me mention in my statement that we have been working with a group on the Gower who are—they're doing it independently, but we are supporting them too.