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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:30 pm on 13 May 2020.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 5:30, 13 May 2020

Thank you for your questions. You must appreciate these schemes take a little while to work up, and, as I said in committee last week, it's very important that we had that scheme right—it was a bespoke scheme—and that it was right for our Welsh dairy sector. The final details are being worked up, just the same as in England. I said to you last week it's not a competition; the most important thing is to get it right. So, those details are being worked up, but I do hope that we'll be in a position to—. Again, as I said last week, what's really important is getting that money out there. So, I do hope we'll be able to do that in the very near future, certainly within a week to 10 days.

I would imagine, yes, it will be open for a certain period. If you look at the fisheries hardship scheme, that's open till the end of May. That started on 23 April, so that's probably about five or six weeks. I would imagine it will be something similar for the dairy support as well.

Again, it's really important that we get these—. I don't particularly like making announcements on a Saturday, but, as I'd said to you in committee, I was hoping to do it by the Friday evening, but there are legal aspects, as always, to consider, and you can imagine the pressure on our legal capacity here in Welsh Government. So, the most important thing, I thought, was to ensure that people knew as quickly as possible that that support would be available.