Welsh Conservatives have expressed concern regarding the spending of tax-payers money, after figures show that a significant amount of the Glastir Woodland Creation (GWC) fund, sourced via the Welsh Government’s Rural Development Programme, is being siphoned off to businesses and organisations outside of Wales.
Samuel Kurtz MS, the Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs, raised his concerns with the Welsh Government’s Minister for Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths MS, during a Plenary session in the Senedd.
During the sitting, Samuel called on the Minister to work with her colleagues to ensure that the spending of tax-payers money is done in an “effective and transparent manner”.
According to Welsh Government data, between the GWC application window of 8th November 2019 and 10th November 2020 the number of applicants with addresses outside Wales grew from 3% to 8%. It also revealed that between windows 8th November 2019 and 9th March 2020 the proportion of land accepted for the GWC grant, following applications from outside Wales, rose from 10% to 16%.
Speaking on the matter, Samuel said:
“These are incredibly concerning figures – not only for farmers, but for hardworking tax-payers right across Wales.
“Traditional Welsh farm-land is being bought up by foreign businesses, but it appears that Welsh Government is then gifting tax-payers money to ‘big businesses’ for initiating tree planting projects on these very farms.
“This is happening right in front of our eyes, and it is being done at no benefit to Wales, our language or our communities and is contrary to our own attempts to tackle climate change.”
Outside the Chamber, Samuel called on the Welsh Government to commit to an independent review of the allocation of Rural Development Programme (RDP) funding, with a specialised focus upon the designation of tax-payer funded Glastir Woodland Creation funds.
Samuel continued: “It’s absolutely vital that the Welsh Government commit to a full-scale independent review into their own Rural Development Programme.”
“We can’t be in a situation whereby thousands of pounds are being gifted to multi-million-pound organisations, while at the same time hard-working farmers are being financially penalised for participating in the very same scheme.
“Taxpayer’s money deserves to be targeted to those who working to meet our environmental targets, not big businesses who are offsetting their conscious as much as their carbon.
“It’s clear that this situation warrants significant scrutiny of public expenditure, that’s why a full-scale review is so important."
