The Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Energy and Rural Affairs – Janet Finch-Saunders MS – has today (02 December) reiterated her calls for an independent review of the Rural Development Plan (RDP). Her comments came as part of a topical question to the Welsh Government.  

Following her contribution, Janet commented:  

“The Welsh Government has around £160m left unspent of RDP 2014-20. Whilst I fully appreciate the plus three flexibility, why does the Welsh Government still refuse to state why the RDP budget was not spent between 2014 and 2020? 

“Since 2014, Welsh farmers have found the RDP application windows to have been sporadic and under-resourced; the complexity has seen some resort to paying advisers and consultants to assist; and scandalously, the Welsh Government has decided to hoard millions and seen farmers turned away from support.

“Even the Auditor General for Wales found that the Welsh Government awarded £53 million of rural development funds without ensuring the grants would deliver value for money.  

“The time of Welsh Government inviting funding applications from selected bodies without documenting why they were selected, giving additional funds to existing projects without first checking their success, and exercising insufficient programme and project oversight must end. 

“This Welsh Labour Government has become far too comfortable in the Cardiff Bay ‘bubble’, consistently overlooking the needs of rural Wales. The Welsh Government has failed to manage the budget effectively, and must agree to an urgent independent review of the RDP.” 

ENDS 

Photo: Spencer Pugh on Unsplash