Commenting today on a statement on Glastir by the Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and European Programmes, Cllr Janet Finch-Saunders AM said:

“Figures released by the Welsh Government on the 1st of February show that out of the 3,000 applications received for the Glastir All-Wales Element scheme, around 1,700 or 40% of the initial applicants have subsequently decided not to or been unable to join the scheme from January 2012. Furthermore only 120 farmers have been offered the ACRES carbon-reduction element.

“Unfortunately, the Deputy Minister today stated that it may ultimately prove necessary to introduce a greater regulatory burden. To me, that is a fundamental contradiction of the ‘Working Smarter’ principles that we welcomed earlier this year.

“I believe that the levels of bureaucracy associated with Glastir are hindering take-up and should be reviewed. As someone who has regularly participated in hustings with farmers I think the Deputy Minister will find that farmers are not afraid to tell politicians what they think. I welcome the announcement of a ‘stock-taking’ exercise to review the last two years of Glastir and hope that the farming community will engage in this process and that the Welsh Government takes note.”