Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:38 pm on 29 June 2022.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mabon ap Gwynfor Mabon ap Gwynfor Plaid Cymru 2:38, 29 June 2022

(Translated)

Thank you very much for that response. If I could move on to my next point, one thing that's wonderful about this job is that one learns something new every day, and I've learnt very recently that y clafr is the term for sheep scab. So, I'm going to ask a question on sheep scab.

As we know, sheep scab is one of the most infectious sheep diseases in Wales, and it was noted as a priority by the animal health and welfare group. It costs around £8 million a year to the sheep industry in the UK, which includes 14,000 payments here in Wales, with 9 per cent of sheep farmers experiencing one case of sheep scab per year. Now, the Welsh Government's framework, the action plan for 2022-24, sets out that the framework group will work with Government and will engage with sheep farmers and their vets in order to develop an agreed approach to control this disease. It also notes that the approach should focus on preventing the disease from spreading to flocks by simple biosecurity measures that are effective and can be used by all sheep farmers. 

In the last Senedd, the Minister herself said that eradicating sheep scab was a priority for the Government, and a pledge was made that £5 million would be available to help to eradicate sheep scab on farms in Wales. Will the Minister therefore provide us with an update on the progress made to eradicate sheep scab in Wales, and more specifically, what assessment have you made of the impact of the £5 million programme for sheep scab in Wales?