Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:54 pm on 10 March 2021.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 1:54, 10 March 2021

Well, you know, you do have to make decisions around your budget. There is only a certain pot of money and, of course, you do. There are lots of calls on that budget, and it's about making sure that there is ample funding for everything. But, clearly, it's not always the case that you are able to increase funding in places where you would wish to. It's about making sure that you cover as much as you can. What the clean air plan did was, as I say, set out the range of actions to deliver improvements for the benefit of public health, as you referred to, and biodiversity, and, of course, help us with the climate emergency. And I'm trying to ensure that there is enough funding. We're coming to the end of this year's budget and, believe me, trying to manage the underspend and the overspend is quite a difficult feat that, fortunately, officials are there to advise me on. So, I don't think we did deprioritise this. And, obviously, as we take the Bill forward for a clean air Act, there will be significant evidence around the budget that can be scrutinised. But I do hope it's recognised that we have very difficult decisions to make—every government does—and we do our best to ensure, and certainly when I look back at this year, I think everybody within different parts of my portfolio has had the funding that's been necessary.