Proposed New Water Rules

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:26 pm on 11 February 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:26, 11 February 2020

Well, Llywydd, there will be ample opportunity for Members here to ask questions and to raise concerns, as Members are doing here this afternoon. There will be no absence of opportunity for Members to carry out their job of scrutinising and questioning Ministers.

On the issue of nitrate vulnerable zones, many times when I've answered questions here I've been lectured by Plaid Cymru Members on respecting the advice of the UK Committee on Climate Change. The Member will have seen the advice of the UKCCC on 23 January 2020, in its 'Land use: Policies for a Net Zero UK'. The very first policy that it says we have to introduce is low-carbon farming practices. It says that before 2023 the extension of nitrate vulnerable zones must be extended to cover the whole of the United Kingdom.

Now, he shakes his head there, because he wants to be selective. You see, he wants to lecture me about making sure that this Government takes the advice and acts on it, and then accuses us of not acting quickly enough on it, but when he doesn't like their advice, he wants us to reject it. We won't be doing that, Llywydd. We rely on the advice of the UKCCC, and their advice on this issue is clear and explicit.