Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:21 pm on 2 December 2020.
Thank you. In relation to your questions around the RDP, I do not accept that historical pillar transfers are responsible for a delayed spend through the EU RDP, and our spend profile is absolutely where we would expect it to be. We took legitimate decisions about how to profile our RDP spending that suited Wales, and the delivery of our programme objectives. We should not be penalised for these decisions. We would never have envisaged the UK Government would take such a flawed approach to replacement funding. Our RDP is absolutely on track. The level of spend, the level of commitment through the programme, is in line with the European average. The European Commission have repeatedly confirmed they're very satisfied with our programme, and I understand this was expressed as recently as just two weeks ago at the latest programme monitoring committee meeting. So, I absolutely do not accept what you are saying.
In relation to the BPS budget decision, in light of the funding settlement, I am currently considering the level of BPS available in 2021. I appreciate the urgency of this decision for farmers and will obviously set out my intentions this month; this is something that I will obviously mention. I met both the farming unions over the last week in relation to this.
You asked about 'Sustainable Farming and our Land'. As you know, I will be publishing a White Paper this month, and we will obviously take everything into consideration.