5. Statement by Peter Fox: Introduction of a Member Proposed Bill: Food (Wales) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:18 pm on 14 December 2022.

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Photo of Huw Irranca-Davies Huw Irranca-Davies Labour 4:18, 14 December 2022

I genuinely congratulate Peter on getting it to this stage. It doesn’t have a good track record, getting private Members’ backbench business through this place. But genuinely, a lot of work has gone into this.

My questions in a minute, really quickly, to rattle off, are: this is described frequently as ‘holistic’, but as Jenny pointed out, and if I had more time I’d point out as well, I don’t think it’s comprehensive. It’s holistic, but not comprehensive, so curiously, rather than some grand scheme that pulls everything together, what I’d prefer to see is actually actions driven to get on with what we should be doing. So, my question to him as a reluctant legislator, but a supporter of backbench legislation, is: what in this actually does duplicate, and could be left out from legislation, that you could just say to the Minister, ‘Minister, get on with whatever you currently have there’?

Secondly, the issue of the costs within this. They aren’t gone into in detail. I understand why. But at this very moment in time, is it appropriate to set up another commission, et cetera, rather than actually saying to the existing mechanisms, ‘Get on with it. You’ve been tasked to do this, so get on with it’?

And, in the five seconds remaining, in the local food plans, which I’m really excited about the idea of that, who are those public boards? You've mentioned local authorities, health boards. What about regional partnership boards? What about the voluntary sector and the third sector who provide the food pantries, the foodbanks, and everything else? What about the community growers, and so on—where do they feature within this? Where does the third sector fit?

Where does procurement fit into this? Have we given consideration to local, fresh-first legislation, as they do in Italy, which says that's the first call on any procurement? And what about the right to food as a fundamental issue? So, it's holistic, but I'm not sure it's comprehensive, and if you can't proceed with this, are there other ways to take some of the good points within this forward?