An overview of the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023, it's passage through the Senedd and subordinate legislation.
Contents
Overview
The Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023 (the Act) provides a new statutory framework for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in Wales. The Act establishes the SLM objectives as the overarching framework for agricultural policy, by imposing a duty on the Welsh Ministers to exercise certain functions in the way they consider best contributes to achieving those objectives. The Act also:
- gives the Welsh Ministers a power to provide support for agriculture, and in connection with agriculture
- provides agricultural tenants with access to arbitration procedures, in certain circumstances
- changes the way felling licenses operate
- prohibits the use of snares and glue traps
The Senedd produced a Bill Summary, which provides a further useful overview of the Act.
The Explanatory Notes to the Act also provide detailed commentary on the various provisions:
Read the full Act:
Coming into force
Section 56(1), (2) and (3) of the Act provides for a number of sections of the Act to come into force on specified days:
The remaining provisions of this Act come into force when the Welsh Ministers make one or more orders, in accordance with section 56(4).
The following orders have been made:
Subordinate legislation made under the Act
Consideration of the legislation by the Senedd
The Bill was introduced by Lesley Griffiths MS, Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd on 26 September 2022 and passed by Senedd Cymru on 27 June 2023.
More information about the Act and the Bill’s passage through the Senedd on senedd.wales.
Read the explanatory memorandum: