Lesley Griffiths, Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs in Wales announced last week that payments under the current Basic Payment Scheme will continue as usual in 2018 and 2019.
When powers return from EU in 2020, the next five years will be a “gradual, multi-year transition” to implement a new scheme by 2025.
What the new scheme will be is currently unknown but the Cabinet Secretary stated that farmers may need to do things differently to receive funding and the way farmers are supported will also need to change. It is suggested that there will be two elements of support for farmers; one for economic activities and one for public goods production.
Further details relating to the new scheme are set to follow in July and a consultation process will then begin. In the meantime, the Cabinet Secretary has confirmed that “…we should not lose a penny of funding as a result of leaving the EU” and maintained that “…our land managers can adapt but it is this Government’s role to provide the time and support needed to achieve this.”
