, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
We have had one particular concern around the automated data, the satellite imagery and stuff, that has caused problems with Glastir. Would you intend to be pretty explicit in terms of where there's no fault of the individual necessarily, it's the system that…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Could I just pick up on that?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Okay. Thank you.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
But you're still expecting possibly to bring amendments in relation to this.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Yes. I'm just concerned that this is a bit late in the day in terms of the work that this group is doing, because 30 per cent of farmers actually farm land in Wales that they don't own. It feels a bit like an afterthought. If we're talking about a third of…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Okay. Thank you.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
And this market distortion and implications in terms of the UK context in which we're operating, and beyond, has implications. The question has been asked around a requirement to consult with UK Ministers, but have you considered consultation mechanisms or…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Okay. Obviously, much of this section, I'm reliably informed, mirrors the UK Act.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Yes, because you need to be nimble in order to respond to events.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Yes, because we could see, for example—. I mean, we've seen a huge increase in input costs—what if they were 10 times bigger? Then, obviously, you'd feel that that would qualify here. I suppose the longer it goes on, the less exceptional it is, in a sense…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Diolch. I just wanted to ask a few questions about the third chapter and the intervention in agricultural markets because of exceptional market conditions. You've confirmed previously that that would relate to any large-scale business disruption that is…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Okay, but I would have thought, given where we are in terms of our need to respond to some of the climate challenges and biodiversity challenges, that that kind of innovation would be prominent enough in your thinking around future schemes to actually include…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Yes, but having it in the Bill would guarantee that the scheme would try to address that.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
One other question, just picking up on the earlier discussion about the purposes, there was quite a strong point made about there being nothing much in the Bill around innovation and productivity, and surely that should be something that we would want to…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Could I just, if I may—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Yes, okay. And there's a whole series of questions we could ask about timber security, I realise that.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Okay. Got you. Right. It was the way I read the Bill. You might need to tweak that to make it clearer—I don't know. We have also heard quite compelling evidence around, of course—. We talk about food security, rightly so. But the point is made—and we are…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Sure. So, you wouldn't be supporting ancillary activities, unless it's agriculture and ancillary activities.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Ah, right. Okay. Yes. So, 'The Welsh Ministers may provide support for or in connection with agriculture in Wales and ancillary activities' It's not, 'and/or'. Is that what you are saying? That's the point that you are making.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
So, we shouldn't look at the meaning of 'ancillary activity' in isolation. Is that what you are saying?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Sure. Okay. We did have evidence from people who were looking at the list of purposes, and then looking at the definition in section 49, or the meaning of, 'ancillary activity'. The question that they were asking was, 'Does this not risk using some of that…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Is that explicit in the Bill, is it? Sorry, I might have—. Or, is that just a policy intent?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
I just want to focus a bit on the ancillary activities and what that really means. How are you going to strike the balance between supporting agriculture and supporting ancillary activities? I don't want to go back to the old pillar 1 and pillar 2 tensions…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Or refining.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
It's very much part of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, you take all of the four pillars together, and it's just sort of not amplified here in the objectives, and I just feel that's—. You know, you mention cherry-picking, and I'm not…
