Lesley Griffiths MS, Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
This statement updates Members of the Senedd of the number of 2021 Glastir claims paid in January.
More than 2,200 claims under Glastir Entry, Advance, Commons and Organic were paid. This represents 78% of all claims received, worth £26.2m to Welsh farm businesses, which contribute to our aims of conserving and enhancing wildlife and biodiversity, improving our soil and water resources, restoring peatland habitats and responding to the climate emergency by taking action towards the decarbonisation of Welsh agriculture.
This is a significant improvement on previous years and has been achieved as a result of simplifying the Basic Payment Scheme for 2021. This resulted in a streamlined process and allowed the introduction of BPS Advance payments in October 2021.
Last year, I decided to extend Glastir for a further two years to provide an opportunity for us to align replacement support to the future Sustainable Farming Scheme.
I would like to thank everyone, including industry stakeholders, who have worked with us to deliver this unprecedented level of payments to Welsh farm businesses.
We will continue to work hard to process the remaining claims as soon as possible. I expect to meet the European Commission’s payment target ahead of 30 June, with all but the most complex claims, to be paid by 30 June.