You've been three for the price of one this afternoon. You've been the First Minister, you've been the Trefnydd, and now you're about to be the rural affairs Minister. I'll ask you to propose the regulations on agricultural payments—Lesley Griffiths.

Motion NDM8133 Lesley Griffiths

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5:

1. Approves that the draft The Agricultural Holdings (Fee) Regulations 2022 is made in accordance with the draft laid in the Table Office on 25 October 2022.

Motion moved.

Diolch, Llywydd, and I wish to move this motion. This is a composite statutory instrument to increase the prescribed statutory fee that can be charged by a professional authority for the appointment of an independent arbitrator to resolve disputes or to make certain records in relation to agricultural tenancies governed by the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986. The current fee of £115 has not been updated since 1996, and this no longer covers the cost of delivering the appointment service. The regulations will increase the fee to £195, in line with inflation, and the Senedd is asked to agree to the regulations.

I'd like to take the opportunity today just to raise a few concerns regarding the regulations laid before us. As the Minister explained, the fee that can be charged for the appointment of an independent arbitrator has not been updated since 1996, so it's proposed that it will rise from £115 to £195. While we're not talking about big bucks here, it's still a huge percentage increase, especially at a time of high input costs and inflation. So, I'd question if the timing is right. Tenant farmers are suffering because of rent increases as well as input costs for their businesses. Should this therefore not be delayed until after the current economic crisis, or indeed taper the increase? The Welsh Government have stated that they have consulted with members of the tenancy reform industry group, but is that consultation representative of the body of tenant farmers in Wales and, therefore, does it actually reflect the views of tenant farmers here?

On another note, the explanatory memorandum indicates that a regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared for this instrument as it increases the statutory fee in line with consumer price inflation. But we know that the incomes of many tenant farmers have not risen in line with inflation. I'd be interested therefore to hear whether we know how often professional arbitrators are used to resolve any disputes that may arise in relation to tenancy agreements in these instances in Wales. If so, what impact will the fee rise have on tenant farmers who require the services of an arbitrator? Although produced in the context of England, the recent Rock review report from the tenancy working group expresses concern about the way in which agents operate in general and how arbitration is in need of some oversight and reform. The report highlights the need for a commissioner or an ombudsman to oversee the operation of arbitration, and our view, therefore, would be that this should have been done before this announcement today, and I'd urge the Minister to look at establishing something along these lines as soon as possible.

Finally, in any decision to lay new regulations, we would want to be assured that the Welsh Government had taken into consideration the recommendations of the Bichard review on the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' royal charter, and in particular recommendation 3, to ensure that there is a separation between the RICS portfolio of commercial activities and its other, wider activities. Given these issues I have raised and the concerns expressed by some in the sector with regard to the fee increase and associated issues, we will be abstaining in the vote today. We'll be willing, however, to lend support to Government regulations once the concerns expressed have been adequately addressed. Diolch.

The Minister to reply—Lesley Griffiths. 

Thank you very much, and thank you, Mabon, for those questions. I do agree it is a significant increase, and hindsight's a wonderful thing, but it perhaps would have been better to have not waited quite so long to increase. I know back in—I think it was—2019, DEFRA increased the same fee in relation to their tenancy reform, and I think it was about £195 three years ago.FootnoteLink So, it's sort of in keeping, although they're probably looking at whether it should be increased again. So, I absolutely understand what you're saying about the increase, but, as I said in my opening remarks, it is equivalent to the rate of inflation since 1996 until now. A regulatory impact assessment wasn't prepared as the regulations make a minor technical amendment to increase the statutory fee. So, that was the reason why we didn't do that. You asked about the members of the tenancy reform industry group. I don't know if they cover absolutely every tenant farmer here in Wales's views, because I would imagine there are mixed views, but certainly the members of that group agreed that that level of fee should be applied for fairness and consistency. You asked me how many times that arbitration happened. I haven't got that figure in front of me, but I'd be very happy to write to you in relation to that.

Correspondence from the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd

I thank the Minister. The proposal therefore is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Yes, there is objection. Therefore, we will defer voting until voting time. 

Voting deferred until voting time.