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Surgeries
| Assembly Government comes clean on real extent of Tir Gofal backlog |
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| Written by Brynle Williams AM |
| Wednesday, 13 August 2008 00:00 |
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The Assembly Government has been forced to admit the number of delayed applications for its flagship agri-environmental scheme Tir Gofal is higher than previously thought. Pressure from the Welsh Conservatives has led Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones AM to reveal a further 161 cases have yet to be processed. Only last month the Minister said 1,008 applications were stuck in the pipeline but that figure has since risen to 1,169. New figures obtained by the Welsh Conservatives also reveal: In North Wales, 374 applications received yet 288 still to be processed In West Wales, 578 applications received yet 475 still to be processed In South East Wales, 492 applications have been received and 406 are still to be processed Shadow Environment Minister Darren Millar AM obtained this information and said it is extremely worrying the figures were not correct in the first place. Tir Gofal pays farmers to use their land less intensively and let some sections become havens for wildlife. A report by the Wales Audit Office last November said the cost of running the scheme was higher than anticipated. It claimed some changes were needed to ensure benefits of the scheme are sustained. It has now emerged new applicants will not be able to apply until some point next year and the applications waiting processing may not be dealt with for up to two years. Shadow Rural Affairs Minister Brynle Williams AM said: “If the Assembly Government can’t even get its sums right, what hope do farmers have that their applications will be handled speedily and efficiently. “It’s only through constant pressure from Welsh Conservatives that the Labour-Plaid administration has been forced to admit this unacceptable situation. “Farmers need to feel they are getting the support they need from the Assembly Government to help maintain Wales’ beautiful landscape. “This latest admission will not induce confidence in them.” Darren Millar AM added: “The initial backlog figure was bad enough – what makes this even worse was that the Assembly Government had not even managed to get its sums right. “In reality, the situation is much, much worse. “It is a matter of grave concern that so many applications for the Tir Gofal funding are waiting in a Government office to be processed. “Reducing the bureaucracy in schemes like this is essential.” |