Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) President Ian Rickman has responded to the Draft Budget announced by the Welsh Government today (Tuesday 10 December).
The draft Budget announced an increase in every government department with the Climate Change and Rural Affairs receiving an additional £36.35m (6.6%) in revenue and £71.95m (31%) in more capital funding.
The Welsh Government also announced it would be maintaining the Basic Payment Scheme ceiling at £238m and providing an additional £5.5m resource and £14m capital funding for wider rural investment schemes.
Earlier this year, FUW submitted comprehensive evidence to the Senedd Finance Committee outlining the urgent need to safeguard and restore farm funding, as well as maintaining the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments at their current rates. This call follows a series of cuts over recent years to the Welsh Rural Affairs budget, with the 2023-2024 financial year seeing a cut of £37.5 million. This was followed by the 2024-2025 budget, which revealed a further year-on-year cut of £62 million, the largest relative reduction of any of the Welsh Government departmental budgets at around 13%.
Responding to the Draft Budget announcement, FUW President, Ian Rickman said:
“Welsh farmers are faced with growing demands to deliver an ever increasing range of sustainability and environmental objectives, while continuing to produce high quality food. Considering the disproportionate cuts faced by the Welsh Rural Affairs budget over recent years, the Welsh Government’s decision to increase the Climate Change and Rural Affairs revenue budget by 6.6% is one to be welcomed - and it is now vital the Welsh Government provides clarity on how this departmental funding will be distributed to support family farms and our rural communities.
The FUW has been clear that as a minimum, the Welsh Government must safeguard Basic Payment Scheme payments for 2025-2026, particularly as we look ahead to the transition towards the Sustainable Farming Scheme. To this end, we do welcome the decision to maintain the BPS payment ceiling - which is crucial in providing a level of security for farmers in Wales as they face a plethora of other challenges and changes.
Whilst additional funding has been provided for wider rural investment and environmental schemes, urgent questions remain regarding how this compares with the rural investment Wales historically received through the European support programmes.
Considering that the UK Government made a decision to maintain previous levels of Rural Affairs funding through the Welsh Government’s Block Grant, there is no reason why any funding should be retracted from support for Rural Affairs - particularly when considering Wales previously received around £90 million through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, around half of which was transferred annually from the direct payments received by farmers.
Looking ahead, it’s crucial that any increase in the Climate Change and Rural Affairs budget is fairly allocated towards the agricultural sector. Fundamentally, as economic modelling will likely demonstrate, future budgets for the Sustainable Farming Scheme cannot be expected to remain at current levels - It must, at the absolute minimum, be maintained as the equivalent of total historic European Common Agricultural Policy funding of at least £337 million per year.”