Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:40 pm on 23 June 2021.
Thank you very much, Llywydd. And may I congratulate you too on your reappointment as Minister? And I look forward to developing a constructive relationship with you over the coming years. I too am going to continue the theme of the RDP, if I may? There's been a great deal of coverage over the past few months to fully funding the rural development plan, and that plan, as we all know, is crucially important to rural Wales, supporting farms directly and also in developing economic and environmental projects.
However, there is concern in the sector that the Welsh Government will fail to spend the full budget for this plan by the end of the financial period in 2023. Based on the latest figures published, only a little over 60 per cent of the funding for this programme has been spent to date. If the Government is to spend all of the funding available, namely £838 million by December 2023, then we will need to see a substantial increase in the monthly spend rate from £6 million to £10 million, which is quite a leap. So, what measures does the Welsh Government intend to put in place to ensure that all of this funding is spent in order to support our rural areas? And does the Minister accept that, if the Welsh Government doesn't spend the funding in full, this will give the Westminster Government another excuse to provide less funding for agriculture in Wales in coming years, putting at risk the economic stability and viability of our agricultural industry?