James Evans MS and First Minister Mark Drakeford clash over Sustainable Farming Scheme proposals

Tindle News

James Evans and Mark Drakeford have clashed in the Senedd over the proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme.  Mr Evans, MS for Brecon and Radnorshire, told the Senedd yesterday (Tuesday) that farmers are worried, scared and angry over the impact the Welsh Government’s proposed scheme might have on them.  Video from Senedd.tv

Transcript

00:00 an up-to-date impact assessment on the sustainable farming scheme?

00:03 An integrated impact assessment was published on the 14th of December last year

00:09 as part of a current sustainable farming scheme consultation.

00:13 An updated assessment, together with supporting evidence,

00:17 will be published before any final decisions are made.

00:20 Thank you for your answer, First Minister,

00:21 and I should hope that you will do an up-to-date impact assessment as soon as possible.

00:26 Over the last week, I visited farms, livestock markets, agricultural suppliers,

00:31 and I attended the YFC drama finals in Radnor.

00:35 All the people that I spoke to are worried, they're scared, and they're angry

00:39 because of the uncertainty around their futures.

00:42 Rural mental health charities are also being inundated with calls

00:46 from people who need help and support due to the huge pressures they're currently under

00:51 because of unrelenting form-filling, TB,

00:54 and a government here that seems to ignore their concerns.

00:58 First Minister, so with the colossal 5,500 job losses,

01:03 the £200 million loss to the economy,

01:06 and the massive reduction in livestock numbers

01:09 outlined by an impact assessment that this government commissioned,

01:13 how can farmers trust you and the Rural Affairs Minister

01:17 when you say that you will listen to the consultation

01:20 when it seems to many that this government ignored farmers during the co-design phase,

01:25 and also did not take account of the evidence that outlined the untold damage

01:31 that this scheme would do to rural Wales?

01:34 [Background chatter]

01:36 Well, shall we let me begin by recognising

01:42 that when change happens, people find that challenging.

01:48 And in rural Wales, there are many changes that are inevitably on their doorstep.

01:54 They're there because we left the European Union

01:57 with the security and certainty that that gave to farming here in Wales.

02:03 It is just unavoidable that while we are no longer members

02:09 of the arrangements that had sustained farming in Wales for so many years,

02:13 that we have now to put alternative schemes in place.

02:18 And when change happens, people are anxious,

02:21 and people are worried, and people are indeed distressed.

02:24 I understand that.

02:26 That is why we go on having the conversations that we do.

02:32 It absolutely does not help, those conversations,

02:35 it absolutely does not help to address the stress to which the Member referred

02:41 when he ends his question with the sort of alarmist nonsense that he offered.

02:47 And I just put that point, I put that point to him

02:52 because he is often quite a sensible contributor to debates on the floor of the Senedd,

02:57 that if we are anxious for people and their futures,

03:01 then it would be better if we all conducted those conversations

03:05 in a more measured way than he did in the way that he ended his conversation,

03:11 because this Government has certainly not ignored the voice of farmers.

03:17 We have had a seven-year conversation.

03:21 I am very grateful, I said in an earlier answer,

03:25 I'm very grateful to the 12,000 responses that we had to the Brexit Our Land consultation

03:33 as far back as 2018.

03:36 I'm grateful to have over 3,000 responses to the 2019 Sustainable Farming and Our Land consultation,

03:46 to the 2,000 people who participated in the co-design exercise in the following year,

03:52 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021.

03:58 We have a white paper on the Agriculture (Wales) Bill,

04:02 2022, 1,600 contributions to the second phase of co-design,

04:08 and this year, more than 3,000 farmers coming to the consultation exercises,

04:13 the roadshows that have been held in every part of Wales.

04:18 I think they deserve better than his contribution,

04:21 because their views have not been ignored,

04:24 because at every iteration, there have been amendments to the scheme,

04:30 and I am confident there will be further amendments to the scheme

04:35 as a result of the consultation and conversations that are currently being held.

04:41 But it is a conversation between two parties.

04:46 It is a conversation between farmers,

04:49 and it is a conversation between the Welsh public,

04:52 who provide the money that goes into the Sustainable Farming scheme.

04:58 And in a conversation, there will be more than one point of view.

05:03 That's why we carry out the conversation so carefully and over such a sustained period.

05:09 It's not over, and we will go on listening and go on responding.

05:14 And once again, I urge as many people as possible to take part

05:19 in the opportunity that is there in front of them to influence the future of the scheme.

05:24 Thank you.

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