The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has recently welcomed calls from the Welsh Conservatives’ Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Energy and Rural Affairs – Janet Finch-Saunders MS – for a review into public sector procurement practices.

Other political parties, such as Plaid Cymru also have a long-standing commitment to addressing the crisis in the food industry in Wales, which they say starts with a local procurement policy. Welsh Labour AM Jenny Rathbone has also previously questioned the Government on what progress it has made in reshaping public procurement to enable more fresh food for schools, hospitals and nursing homes to be procured locally.
The FUW has long called for changes to be made to public sector procurement policies in Wales and discussed the issue only a few weeks ago with a panel of experts in our food supply chain virtual seminar. It is therefore positive to see that cross-party support for this issue is growing and gaining momentum.

Welsh schools, hospitals, armed forces and all other public services deserve access to the nutritious, quality food grown here in Wales and farmers deserve recognition for what they produce. When it comes to procurement policies, it’s essential that price doesn’t get placed above all other factors when it comes to sourcing that food.

The huge increase in visitor numbers to Wales, coupled with an expected increase in the number of people relocating to rural Wales following the coronavirus epidemic, has prompted major concerns about the additional pressures this will place on rural housing.

The potential impact on rural communities prompted the President to write to the Welsh Government highlighting the union’s concerns.

In the FUW President's letter, it states that the Welsh Government's guidance on rural enterprise dwellings in Technical Advisory Note (TAN) 6 marked a welcome move that has assisted many farming families. However, the housing pressures in our rural communities, including for farming families, agricultural workers, those retiring from agriculture - particularly tenant farmers - and others, continue to grow.

It points out that a major and growing influence on the availability and cost of rural housing for local families has been second-home ownership and tourism. In addition, differences between house prices and incomes in Welsh rural areas and other areas of the UK has also helped push Welsh rural house prices beyond the reach of an increasing number of our rural families.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has responded positively to news that there are plans to bring full fibre broadband to an additional three million homes and businesses in some of the UK’s most isolated rural communities, but stresses it must really reach them.

The connection to 3.2 million UK premises, which was given the go-ahead after an Ofcom consultation, is reported to be part of a £12bn investment by Openreach to build full fibre infrastructure to 20 million premises throughout the UK by the end of this decade.

Places set to benefit include Aberystwyth in west Wales, Millom in Cumbria, Thurso in north-east Scotland and Ballycastle in County Antrim. Openreach is due to publish the full list of the 251 locations, referred to as Area 3, where it will build the new network. Ofcom has estimated there are 9.6 million homes and businesses situated in this final third of the UK.

The last few months have served as a stark example of how vital connectivity is. FUW Staff, many of whom live in rural areas, have been working from home and we have continued to assist members with digital paperwork for their farm businesses.

The FUW has stressed on many occasions that poor connectivity often acts as a roadblock for farmers looking at opportunities for diversifying their businesses. It is therefore a step in the right direction that the Wales Local Government Association (WLGA) has included digital infrastructure as one of its key themes for a rural vision for the next ten years, which is being developed as part of the Rural Forum with Stakeholders including the FUW.

An announcement by the National Trust regarding plans to cut up to 1,200 jobs in an attempt to lessen the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, has highlighted a long-standing concern of the FUW.

Despite already saving millions through other measures, including furloughing staff, the plan hopes that reducing the Trust’s workforce back to 2016 levels will offset part of the estimated £200 million loss. Around £40 million of these savings will go towards protecting key areas of the Trust such as conservation and public access.

The FUW recognises and appreciates all of the hard work that the National Trust does in order to preserve and enable the public to experience the UK countryside. However, the fact that the Trust - a charity solely focussed on conservation and countryside management - faces difficulty due to the ongoing pandemic highlights a long-term worry.

UK food producers have been recognised as heroes during the pandemic, when supermarket shelves were emptied and many consumers turned to their local producers and butchers for food. Despite this, the proposals set out by Welsh Government in last year’s Sustainable Farming and our Land consultation based on the principles of ‘public money’ for ‘public goods’ move away from the importance of food production, security and safety.