1. Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's refreshed TB eradication programme? OQ57742

3. Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's plans to eradicate TB in mid Wales? OQ57749

Llywydd, I understand that you've given your permission for questions 1 and 3 to be grouped. The consultation on a refreshed TB eradication programme closed on 8 February 2022. Two hundred and forty-six responses were received, and these are currently being analysed. I will be making a statement on a refreshed TB eradication programme in July of this year.

Thank you, Minister, for that response. I would also just like to remind Members that I'm a farmer, as stated in my register of interests, and I currently haven't got TB.

Minister, your recent consultation on the refreshed TB eradication plan proposed changes to the current system for valuing animals compulsorily slaughtered by Welsh Government as a result of bovine TB. However, there are concerns that a tabular valuation system is not fair, as a system based on averages is likely to create many instances of overvaluation or undervaluation. Such a system doesn't take into account many important factors relating to the individual characteristics of an animal that may affect its valuation. Meanwhile, in the consultation itself, the Government suggests that its proposals are a result of an overspend of its TB budget. The only way to reduce overspends is to ensure that the disease is controlled quickly and effectively, so that the disease has the smallest possible impact on the national herd.

Minister, do you not agree that the only way to fairly compensate farmers for any loss of animals as a result of TB is to value them on the basis of their individual value? And how will your refreshed strategy tackle the disease in wildlife through a comprehensive eradication strategy to reduce the need to slaughter cattle in the first place? Diolch.

So, I think the first thing I would want to say is that I don't want to pre-empt the consultation. I haven't seen any of the responses yet. As I say, they're currently being analysed by my officials. And, obviously, the information that comes forward from the consultation responses will then feed into the refreshed TB eradication programme, which, as I say, I will be making a statement on in July. So, I think that is the first thing to say.

You're quite right, valuation is one of the aspects that we're looking at in the consultation, and I think, again, it's very fair to say that we have a statutory duty to compensate farmers in relation to TB, and we do always overspend. It is a budget within my own entire budget that is always overspent, and I always have to find that funding. And, obviously, that is public money, and we need to make sure that that public money is spent appropriately. The way we do the valuations now, I think, is correct. You'll be, I'm sure, very aware that the market value of an animal is defined as a price that the animal might reasonably expect at market, if it was unaffected by TB, and it is absolutely based on that market value. We appoint, as a Government, a panel of contracted valuers to assess the value of animals that are to be slaughtered because of TB. But this is an important part of the consultation, and, as I say, I don't want to pre-empt what we will be coming forward with.

I absolutely appreciate that it is a very distressing condition. I've been on farms where farmers are awaiting results of TB testing or are filled with gloom because it's approaching, and I absolutely understand the devastation it causes. And that's why it's really important that the TB eradication does what we want, and that is eradicate TB here in Wales.

I'm sure you will agree with me, Minister, that it's hugely stressful for a farming family and a farming business when they are under TB restrictions. And I'm sure you will want the Welsh Government to do all they can in limiting that stress and anxiety that a farming business and families have to go through. An issue raised with me over many, many years is the lack of communication that farmers have between their business and the Animal and Plant Health Agency. I've raised this with your predecessor; it's still an issue that remains. So, can I ask, do you recognise that there is a communication issue in terms of farmers having that direct contact with the agency? What more can the Welsh Government do to improve communication in that regard?

And finally, Minister, last year, a TB hotspot area was identified in Pennal in my constituency, and stringent measures were imposed on farmers in that area. Are those measures, those very stringent measures, are they now bearing fruit? And what are the Welsh Government's plans going forward for control measures in that particular area and, again, with communication?

Thank you, and I hoped I did set out, in my answer to Peter Fox, that I absolutely understand how stressful and distressing TB can be for a farming family. I think you are right around communication. When I made the statement on the TB programme last November here in the Chamber, when I announced the consultation, one of the things I did announce was the establishment of a task and finish group. What I want that task and finish group to consider is how we engage and how we communicate better with the farming industry as a Government. We've recruited the members of the task and finish group. They met for the first time last week on 2 March. I'm awaiting a note of that first meeting. They met at Aberystwyth University. They will be meeting again soon and I'm expecting a final report from them in the late spring, ahead of when I'm able to announce the refreshed TB eradication programme. You mentioned APHA in particular; APHA officials have been invited to participate in the task and finish group in an advisory capacity rather than being full members of the group. But I do recognise that, of course, we can always better communicate, can't we, and better engage. That was absolutely the reason why I set up the task and finish group. You referred to an area of your constituency, and I know that Montgomeryshire along with the rest of mid Wales does span a number of our TB areas. I think we are seeing an improvement in the figures in the area that you referred to. The latest TB statistics have been released this morning.

The Farmers Union of Wales has warned that the proposals contained within the refreshed TB eradication programme will have a detrimental impact on farmers' mental health. This of course when we are already seeing 50 agricultural workers take their own lives each year, as well as veterinarians being three to four times more likely to commit suicide than any other profession. In light of that, I'd be interested to know what considerations the Minister has given to the effects of these proposals on the mental state of rural communities, because according to the FUW, there's been a fundamental lack of an impact assessment.

I did see the comments by the FUW. I'm meeting them as part of my regular meetings with the FUW next Monday, and I will certainly be interested to hear why they have those views. Going back to what I said in earlier answers, I absolutely recognise the stress that TB testing can place farmers under. You will be aware of the significant work I've done around improving mental health for farmers. I've worked very closely, particularly over the pandemic—I've attended the advisory and support group that we set up, I've funded some of the charities within the agricultural sector to assist in this way. So, I will be very interested to hear what the FUW say and why they feel that that's the case. As I say, I don't want to pre-empt the consultation—it's a meaningful consultation and I don't want people to think their views aren't going to be listened to. It's very important that we do take all aspects, and the ones that you've just referred to, into consideration. But I will be specifically interested to hear why the FUW believe that.