3. Statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs: Response to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:55 pm on 8 April 2020.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 3:55, 8 April 2020

Thank you, Joyce. In relation to the footpaths and the 28-day period, that will be for Hannah Blythyn to review, and I will ensure she's aware of your question.

I think the point you raise about crops in the ground is very important, and I referred before to the thousands of people who come—you know, seasonal agricultural workers—and clearly that's a very big issue. It's not just about the horticultural part of agriculture; it's the other people who come and help us in sheep shearing, for instance. That's another area that's been raised. So, I meet weekly with the Secretary of State for DEFRA and devolved administration counterparts, and agricultural workers also come up in a sort of cross-Government—I can't think what it's called now. I think it's the ministerial inter-governmental group. I've twice attended that UK Government group—that's a meeting chaired by Michael Gove—where the agricultural work sector and workforce has come up on the agenda. So it's clearly something that we're going to have to look at. As you said, there are people who may be furloughed at the moment, so one of the questions I've been asking is: if you have a furloughed worker who's currently getting paid and then wants to do additional work in agriculture, it's important that the funding they're receiving, will that change? Because clearly people would want to make sure that they protect their earnings.

In relation to garden centres, I mentioned that a few of them are now selling online. I'm not sure if they've had specific business support from Ken Skates's portfolio, but I'm sure there is advice there that we could share with them in order to be able to do that.

Before I move to the next question, Llywydd, I just realised that I didn't answer Janet Finch-Saunders around the 2m rule. Clearly, for food businesses—certainly, meat processors raised their concerns with me last week, which I made representations about. But I'm sure you will appreciate that all workplaces have a role in stopping the spread of coronavirus, and they are taking a proportionate approach. We would hope that all such places were taking a proportionate approach, and I know that many businesses have halved—not halved the number of workers, but made sure that the space is bigger. In some areas, you can't do it. So, for instance, a dentist could never be 2m away from a patient, and I think that's a very good example of a reasonable measure.