Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:47 pm on 28 September 2022.
Thank you. Yes, we certainly would not want to see a drop in people approaching this service. You may be aware, I've recently established a technical advisory group to help with holistic support for the TB programme, and I've appointed Professor Glyn Hewinson, who I'm sure is known to you, to lead this work. It's a holistic approach to our TB programme, to the support we offer. You'll be aware that, every year, I do a statement here in the Chamber to update Members. As you say, we've seen a promising drop in some of the statistics, which is not the whole picture, and I appreciate that. We are seeing some stubborn areas and hotspots. Obviously, you refer to an area that had been quite low and is seeing an increase now, which we certainly don't want to see. I've asked the group to consider, for instance, the current TB testing regime to see if there's anything further that we can do. You'll be aware we had a consultation earlier this year, but I think I will ask Glyn to have a look at what we can do. Maybe the type of services we're giving are not what people want. So, we need to make sure it is absolutely what they want, because if it doesn't work for the farmers who require those services, then clearly it's not going to work for anybody.