8. Will the First Minister make a statement on regulation of the agricultural industry in Wales? OAQ54023

I thank the Member for that. It is through effective regulation that we protect the environment and achieve the best outcomes for agriculture through sustainable and resilient businesses. Regulation provides clarity for farmers and businesses, protects standards, and helps to maintain our natural resources.

On 14 November last year, the environment Minister outlined her intention to introduce a whole-Wales approach to tackling nitrate pollution, and Assembly Members were told that regulations would come into force next January—that's January 2020. Residents in the communities of Gelligaer, Nelson and Pen-y-Bryn, in the Caerphilly constituency, have long had to put up with the nuisance side-effects of agricultural activities caused by the Bryn Group at Gelliargwellt Farm in Gelligaer. Constituents regularly contact me about odour nuisance caused by regular slurry spreading. Designating all of Wales as a nitrate vulnerable zone, as recommended by a Welsh Government-commissioned expert panel, in addition to introducing the regulations that I've already mentioned, would help restrict and monitor such activities. Is the First Minister confident that the new regulations, therefore, will improve the situation in my constituency, and would he be amenable to meeting with me to discuss this, once the regulations have come into effect in 2020?

I thank the Member for that. We are confident that the regulations that will be introduced in January of next year will give a statutory basis to measures that, previously, the industry has voluntarily committed themselves to achieving, that the introduction of statutory obligations in nutrient management planning, in sustainable fertiliser application, in protecting water from pollution, in making sure that manure storage standards are properly observed, that those will have a genuinely positive impact in the industry. While I understand that it's a challenge for some in the industry, and we will provide extra time for those who need it, this will be to the advantage of the industry in the long term, because it will secure those standards that will protect the reputation of the industry—a reputation that is very hard won and very easily lost—and we know that there are too many examples in Wales of the sort to which the Member has referred. And of course, I'm very happy to meet with him and with Lesley Griffiths as those new standards come in and the statutory regulation is enforced, to hear about how they are making a positive difference in his constituency.

Thank you, First Minister.