7. Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's measures to tackle the spread of bird flu in Mid and West Wales? OQ58624

When avian influenza is confirmed at any premises in Wales, stringent disease control measures are immediately put in place to stop further spread. The Welsh Government introduced an avian influenza prevention zone on 17 October, which makes it a mandatory requirement for bird keepers to follow strict biosecurity measures.

Thank you very much. Those measures are, of course, welcome because the current strain of avian influenza is recognised as the worst to have affected the UK, with the recent news in Norfolk that some 0.5 million chickens have been destroyed a result of the inflection, and concern in the industry that this will have an effect on the number of turkeys available for Christmas. 

But, in addition to the agricultural sector, the spread of avian influenza and the impact on wildlife can be very serious, with some 10,000 sea geese having been killed by the disease last year as they migrated from the Arctic to the UK. We've recently heard about the impact of this on cormorants on Grassholm in Pembrokeshire. We know of the importance of the west Wales coast in terms of seabirds and important nature reserves. So, with concerns about the spread this winter and the relationship between the agriculture sector and wildlife, can the Minister provide an assurance that efforts and resources to tackle bird flu in the agriculture sector go hand in hand with steps to safeguard our wildlife too?

Yes, absolutely, and I work very closely with the Minister for Climate Change in relation to this issue as well. She published the mitigation strategy for avian influenza in wild birds in England and Wales back in August, I think it was, and that was to enable conservation charities and land managers— obviously, that includes the agricultural sector—to take an effective and consistent response to AI in wild birds. 

As I understand it, there has been a case of avian influenza in my constituency, and it's crucial, therefore, that everything is done to stop the disease spreading further across Pembrokeshire and indeed across the rest of Wales. Of course, it's vital that the Welsh Government works collaboratively with other Governments across the UK on this matter. Therefore, can the Minister update us on the latest discussions that the Welsh Government has had with other UK Governments regarding avian influenza outbreaks in the UK, and what more can be done to monitor this specific disease across the UK because, as you're aware, diseases, of course, naturally don't recognise boundaries?

You may have heard me say in an earlier answer to Gareth Davies that it is very important we work with other UK administrations, particularly the UK Government. As I said, we were working on this with George Eustice back at the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, the DEFRA Secretary of State who just left Government yesterday, I didn't meet with, but I will certainly be writing to Thérèse Coffey on this issue. Biosecurity is the most important defence we have in relation to avian influenza. Certainly, some of the outbreaks we've seen, and I mentioned the ones in Lincolnshire, were all in big premises at the start of the year, so we were all very concerned about that biosecurity element of it. So, if there's any message I can give, because it's clearly a massive issue where we haven't had any break at all really—we've continued to have new cases of AI throughout the summer, and the new counting season starts on 1 October, and we've just gone straight into that—. So, I think that message is really important, but it is a very serious point that we have to work together, because, as you say, birds fly; they don't see those boundaries and it's so easy for that disease to transmit, and, clearly, in wild birds as well. I mentioned the work that the Minister for Climate Change is doing around that, but I am hoping we'll have an inter-ministerial group as a matter of urgency, and it will be something that I will raise, and I'm very happy to report back to Members.