Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 3:19 pm on 19 June 2024.
Natasha Asghar
Conservative
3:19,
19 June 2024
Thank you so much for your response, Cabinet Secretary. As we all know, an economic impact assessment commissioned by the Welsh Government at the end of last year predicted 5,500 job losses and an 85 per cent drop in farm business income as a result of changes to support payments for farmers in Wales. I know last month you announced that the basic payment scheme will be available in 2025 and the proposed SFS transition period will start in 2026. This came alongside the very welcome confirmation the scheme will not be introduced until it's ready, but I wondered if we could get a commitment from you today, here in the Chamber, that you will not move forward with the sustainable farming scheme until an impact assessment is in fact undertaken. And do you not agree, Cabinet Secretary, that the SFS should ensure and prioritise growing the number of jobs and income in farming, as farmers need and deserve jobs and business security just as much as everyone else? Thank you.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
