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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:42 pm on 8 April 2020.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 3:42, 8 April 2020

Thank you, Janet, for that list of questions. Around the shielded group of people, I think the majority of your questions were around people not getting the letters, and I'll certainly raise it with the health Minister. I have already raised it with the health Minister—I said in an earlier answer that I've had constituents contact me. But I think the nub of your question was around, 'Will we be able to then add people to the shielded list?', and, absolutely, we will be able to—I can give you that assurance.

Clearly, many of our food and drink producers have had a severe impact from COVID-19, like the economy, obviously, in general. Certainly, I've heard of many businesses that donated—particularly restaurants and around the food service sector—food in the beginning, when these measures came in. Vineyards—I haven't had anything specifically about vineyards. I am very aware of the one in your constituency. But, certainly, my understanding is they would be able to access the support from the economic crisis fund. 

You raise a very important point about food boxes, because, you can imagine, to get those food boxes out as quickly as possible we used the same two companies that DEFRA had used as well, because they were there and ready to go, and it was easier for us to get the procurement measures in relation to getting that food out. So, dietary requirements weren't considered, because, for those of you who don't know, a typical box has a range of items—it has long-life milk, it has tinned produce, it has pasta, it has toilet roll, breakfast cereal. The contents are very clearly labelled.

But one thing I was very keen—well, there were two things I was really keen to do. We've done this, initially, for 12 weeks, but, equally, I would like to see more fruit and veg, if at all possible, going in those boxes. So, that’s something that we’re looking at right now. The first food box went out last Thursday, so I'm not sure if we're still in week one or if we're now going into week two in relation to those food delivery boxes, but certainly by week three, I wanted to look at being able to put some fresh food, fresh fruit and vegetables, into those boxes. So, hopefully, within the next—obviously next week is deemed as recess, hopefully when we come back we will be able to do that. We also need to look at the dietary requirements, and particularly if people have got a health condition that they need to have that. So, it provides essential food for people, but I—. You know, it's great to see those boxes arriving on people's doorsteps. It's very hard to have a one-size-fits-all solution, but I'm sure the Member will appreciate that it was a very immediate need to get that food out.