9. Will the Minister make a statement on the reduction in the total revenue and capital allocation for the environment, energy, and rural affairs portfolio in the second supplementary budget for 2020-21? OQ55909

In the second supplementary budget, the environment, energy, and rural affairs portfolio’s capital budget reduced by £10.8 million as a result of the exercise to identify those capital budgets that were likely to underspend this year due to the coronavirus crisis and could, in the first instance, be repurposed.

Minister, I'm sorry, but I consider it to be quite appalling and very disappointing that you have seen fit to reduce the revenue and capital allocation for environment and rural affairs by nearly £11 million. I would like to refer to an even greater situation that is causing me and the agricultural sector some alarm. As you will know, environment, energy and rural affairs has accruing resources of £97 million. This includes income from the EU to support farmers and rural communities in Wales. Your Welsh Government's historic handling of funds for farm support is a serious failure. In fact, you may recall that the budget for the rural development plan in Wales 2014-20 was £828 million. Now, whilst I acknowledge that expenditure can be made during the three years after the programme period, the funding was purely for 2014-20. Why, then, does around £160 million still remain unspent and what steps will the Welsh Government urgently take to address this budget mismanagement and failed monitoring, to ensure that all the money is made available, and now, to all our desperate farmers? Thank you.

Well, two important things here. The first relates to the £10.8 million funding that was identified to be repurposed. That is only capital funding—that wasn't revenue—and £9.5 million of that relates to radioactivity and pollution prevention. It does relate to slippage this year regarding Cardiff council's clean air quality plan to meet legal limits for nitrogen dioxide under the ambient air quality directions given to Cardiff council and Caerphilly council. It's estimated that the slippages from those councils were in the region of £9.5 million, and this is simply because of the result of the pandemic, meaning work couldn't be taken forward at the same pace.

The other £1.3 million related to enabling natural resources in Wales, and that was a grant focused on co-operative action and activities to provide environmental enhancement and resilience. Again, due to the coronavirus pandemic, those projects had to be suspended during the lockdown. So, these are very much results of the impact of the pandemic rather than deliberate choices to pause work within that important portfolio. I think that we do have to recognise that the pandemic has had an effect on our ability to deliver in a number of areas, and we have been able then to repurpose funding. You'll be familiar with the £320 million package that I announced very recently in terms of a focus on trying to start our recovery.

But if we want to talk serious failings on farm funding, the Chancellor confirmed today that Wales will receive only £242 million in replacement funding for the common agricultural policy, and this leaves Wales £137 million short of the funding that we expected to receive, and amounts to a betrayal of rural Wales. Of course, in their manifesto for the 2019 general election, the UK Government committed to provide full replacement funding for farmers following our exit from the EU, and Wales would normally receive around £337 million per year through the common agricultural policy. So, if you're looking for a serious failure of management of funding and if you're looking for a betrayal of the farming industry, I think that you can find it right there.

Thank you to the finance Minister.