Thank you very much, Llywydd. Ten years ago, Welsh councils owned almost 1,000 smallholdings, which were let out to give opportunities to young farmers to gain entry into the farming industry. The latest statistics we have show that councils—and one does recognise this—that are under huge financial pressures because of austerity have been selling those assets off, and very often, as we recognise, in order to maintain core public services. But over the past seven years, over 1,000 hectares of land has been sold by councils, for a total of almost £28 million. There are now fewer than 500 farms with external buildings throughout Wales, and there is no sign that the rate of disposal is reducing or slowing down either.

The situation is even more extreme in England. Half of council-owned farmland has been sold off over the past decade, and many councils see their farms as things of the past. That toxic combination, of austerity and an unwillingness by some councils to be more creative and to innovate in order to develop new income streams or business models, is driving the decline of county farms. So, why is this important?