Evidence-informed Policy Making

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 2:00 pm on 10 March 2021.

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Photo of Mandy Jones Mandy Jones UKIP 2:00, 10 March 2021

Thank you. Minister, I'm truly surprised to hear that answer, and I refer in particular—apart from the fact that I'm repeating so many other people—here to your mystifying decision on NVZs. I had meetings, as many others did, with the farmers unions a few weeks ago, and they reported that evidence and recommendations were provided in a report to you by the NRW Wales land management sub-group in April 2018, and a weighty 102 pages of evidence was presented to you in late 2019. It's not often that I agree with NRW, as they have made some bad decisions in the past, since they were formed, but, on this occasion, their report should have been listened to. So, if, as you say, your decisions are based on evidence, what was the evidence that you found so compelling, and why was the NRW evidence effectively thrown in the bin? Thank you.