Jane Dodds: Brexit and increased paperwork causing 'major stress' for Welsh farmers

Tindle News

Jane Dodds says farmers in Wales are facing increasing amounts of stress.  The Mid and West Wales MS said at the Senedd that it is being caused by Brexit and by increasing paperwork imposed by the Welsh Government.  She said these two factors have produced “major stress”.  (Video from Senedd.tv)

Transcript

00:00 and good afternoon Minister. I just really wanted to continue the discussion around the

00:06 pressures on farmers as has been mentioned by Mabonogh Gwynfod in terms of the extra paperwork

00:12 and I wouldn't disagree with you at all that a major stress has been the pressures on farmers

00:18 in leaving the European Union but there are also additional pressures around the paperwork that the

00:25 Welsh Government has put on farmers. So just in the last 12-18 months we've seen the control of

00:31 agricultural pollution, we've seen the Habitat Wales regulations and the problems there with

00:37 the mapping difficulties. TB, the paperwork for testing is excessive, the SFS and the concern

00:45 that the sustainability particularly around 10% trees requirements and also I raised last week

00:53 that paperwork is dropping onto farmers letterboxes around land valuation tags which is

00:59 again just putting an extra stress on them and that's on top of what are you know everyday

01:05 expectations around paperwork and bills that all of us have to cope with. In conversation with

01:11 farmers I know many of us have heard that these are real stresses for them so I do hope that the

01:16 Welsh Government will do more to reassure farmers that any fresh red tape from the Welsh Government

01:23 will not exacerbate the considerable mental health pressures that farmers are already facing.

01:28 Thank you well that's certainly be my aim. I remember saying to officials that if we increased

01:34 the bureaucracy around you know what you've got BPS if it was more for SFS that would not be

01:40 a good thing at all. I think in relation to your comments around Habitat Wales that there certainly

01:46 were issues with mapping but in some ways you know we can learn those lessons ahead of SFS and perhaps

01:51 it was better that it happened with the smaller scheme that would have been better if it hadn't

01:55 happened at all but unfortunately it has happened but it's really important that lessons have been

01:58 learned and I've certainly had assurance from officials that that is the case. I do have to

02:04 say if you're in receipt of public money we have to make sure that we can account for it. Opposition

02:08 members well any member here would be the first to criticise Ministers and Government if we weren't

02:13 able to account for that public money so unfortunately when you are in receipt of public

02:18 money in whatever form of support or subsidy it is really important that the paperwork is correct

02:23 and I absolutely understand as someone who hates doing anything official it just builds up and

02:28 builds up you know that it that it does cause a level of stress when I think Mabonogh Gwimbo

02:33 put it very clearly you know you're looking after animals you're running a business you're looking

02:37 after a home you've got a family etc and it's just another worry so it is really important we

02:41 streamline it as much as we can.

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