The Environment, Energy, and Rural Affairs Portfolio

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:14 pm on 25 November 2020.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 2:14, 25 November 2020

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.