Labour won’t rule out BPS cuts for 2024
Today Welsh Conservative Shadow Rural Affairs Minister, Samuel Kurtz MS, challenged the Labour Minister on Labour’s shambolic handling of the Habitat Wales Scheme.
A lack of support for farmers, around what Welsh agriculture will need to achieve as part of the agri-environmental targets is causing a low number of farmers to actually join the scheme.
As a result, having already cut the rural affairs budget in half this year, the Welsh Government may use the perceived lack of interest and take up as a reason to further cut the budget in the future.
Commenting, Samuel Kurtz MS said:
“The Habitat Wales Scheme has been plagued with problems since its rushed inception and we don’t even know yet what its budget will be.
“Every £1 spent in Welsh agriculture is worth £9 to the wider community, so it is imperative that the farming community receives the support they need.
“However, when given the chance, the Minister failed to rule out cuts to next year’s Basic Payment Scheme, leaving a nervous cloud lingering over Wales’ agricultural industry.”
