The Farmers’ Union of Wales has expressed major concern following an announcement made by Wales Finance Minister Rebecca Evans, on Tuesday 17th October 2023, which will see significant cuts to rural affairs spending in Wales.
The recently announced package of financial measures, which protect and increase both health and transport spending, see a total Welsh Government budgetary reduction of around £600 million; with around £220 million coming from cuts to spending.
The fact that the budget allocation for rural affairs could be potentially reduced by over £37 million represents a significant blow to the industry. This is extremely concerning given the important work being undertaken by the Welsh Government’s rural affairs department at a time of major transition and pressures for farmers and the rural communities they support.
No administration is immune from spending cuts and the FUW fully recognises that there are pressures outside of the Welsh Government’s control. However, budget cuts of this significant nature call into question the ambitious environmental targets posited by the Welsh Government. Without proper and ambitious support for food production and environmentally sustainable farming it will be difficult for the industry to meet the aspirations of the Welsh Government in these areas.
This announcement comes after cuts totalling more than £200 million in funding for Welsh agriculture and rural development since 2019 and solidifies the FUW’s concerns regarding the lack of clarity around the budget available for the new Habitat Wales Scheme.
Ironically, the Climate Change budget, which includes transport, has been boosted by over £80 million worth of funding yet reduced payment rates, along with the loss of whole farm management payments and support for capital works, means that those currently in Glastir contracts, which come to an end on 31st December 2023, will receive significantly smaller payments next year if they decide to enter this interim environmental scheme.
It would be deeply concerning if reductions to this overall rural affairs budget led to a significantly smaller funding pot being made available for the Habitat Wales Scheme budget. The FUW has consistently called for this new scheme, which is open to more than 17,000 Welsh farmers, to receive at least as much funding as the schemes it replaces. The FUW remains extremely concerned that, should the new scheme be financially unattractive to farmers, any resultant underspend will represent a further loss of income to the sector.
The Finance Minister cited protection of jobs as one of the priorities underpinning the changes to spending plans and the FUW would therefore like to remind the Welsh Government that the funds made available to family farms in Wales support a tremendous array of secondary and tertiary businesses. Hundreds of businesses are solely reliant upon Welsh agriculture and any reductions in farm incomes will have a direct impact upon these businesses and their employees.