Cabinet meeting: 13 July 2026

• Rt Hon. Rhun ap Iorwerth MS (Chair)
• Sioned Williams MS
• Mabon ap Gwynfor MS
• Anna Brychan MS
• Heledd Fychan MS
• Llŷr Gruffydd MS
• Siân Gwenllian MS
• Rt. Hon. Elin Jones MS
• Adam Price MS
• Dafydd Trystan Davies MS
• Rt Hon. Elfyn Llwyd

Officials

• Andrew Goodall, Permanent Secretary
• Rachel Garside-Jones, Director Office of the First Minister
• Jo Salway, Director Cabinet Office
• Toby Mason, Director Strategic Communications
• Carwyn Wycherley, Deputy Head of Cabinet Office
• Aled ap Dafydd, Senior Special Adviser
• Elin Roberts, Senior Special Adviser
• Emily Edwards, Senior Special Adviser
• Cai Elis, Senior Special Adviser
• Francess Ifan, Senior Special Adviser
• Johnathan Evershed, Special Adviser
• Guto Ifan, Special Adviser
• Luke Nicholas, Special Adviser
• Lewis, Owen, Special Adviser
• Christopher W Morgan, Cabinet Secretariat (minutes)
• Damian Roche, Cabinet Secretariat (minutes)
• Katie Mason, Cabinet Secretariat
• James Oxenham, Cabinet Secretariat

1.1 Cabinet approved the minutes of 29 June.

Wildfires North Wales

2.1 The Prif Weinidog referred to the wildfires that had broken out in North Wales over the weekend on Conwy Mountain, which had been declared as a major incident, along with active blazes at Braichmelyn Forest, Bethesda and on the Rhinogydd mountains near Harlech. The Prif Weinidog put on record his thanks to the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and all other agencies for responding in such challenging circumstances. It was important that all those communities impacted followed the advice of the emergency services.

The Supplementary Budget

2.2 The Prif Weinidog informed Cabinet that discussions were continuing with the aim of securing safe passage of the First Supplementary Budget, which was being debated in the Senedd the following day.

3.1 Cabinet noted that week’s Plenary grid.

4.1 The Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability provided Cabinet with an update on the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS).

4.2 The SFS was the primary support mechanism to deliver the Sustainable Land Management objectives of the Agriculture (Wales) Act, and multiple climate and nature related commitments across the farmed environment. There was an integral link between delivering SFS and achieving the outcomes within the planned Climate and Nature Action Plan.

4.3 The SFS comprised of 3 layers, sitting above a standardised Regulatory Baseline. These were Universal, Optional and Collaborative. This was the first year of the SFS and farmers had recently applied for either the SFS Universal Layer or the legacy Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). The 4-year Transition Period had recently commenced, where the BPS value would be gradually tapered year on year to encourage more farmers to join the SFS.

4.4 The key figures for the first year indicated just over 50% of applicants had applied for the SFS Universal Layer, equating to 902,000 hectares, with 385,000 hectares remaining in BPS. All claims were now subject to verification before areas of land, habitat or woodland could be confirmed. The barriers preventing other farmers joining the SFS would be explored, with the aim of encouraging greater participation.

4.5 SFS Universal payments would be paid in 2 instalments, with an advance payment in October and the balance in December, pending full validation of each claim.

4.6 The optional ‘categories’ would be introduced in phases, with organic conversion, capital grants for production and efficiency and woodland creation being opened shortly after the Royal Welsh Show.

4.7 The SFS Collaborative offer was still being fully developed.

4.8 In terms of the 100-day commitments, the bureaucratic burden review of family farms had just been launched and there would be a multi-annual budget for SFS. At the Royal Welsh Show the chair of the National Food Strategy for Wales would be announced, and following the discussion at Cabinet at the end of June, proposals to put rural proofing on a statutory footing would be included within the Environmental Sustainability and Rural Resilience White Paper, due to be published on 22 July.

4.9 Cabinet welcomed the update and requested a timeline for the work on rural proofing. There would also be a need to explore how many smaller family farms had enrolled in the SFS.

5.1 The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Minister for Social Justice and Equality provided Cabinet with an update on the expansion of childcare.

5.2 The expert steering group had met twice, and a civil service taskforce had brought together officials from across departments to focus on solutions to deliver the government’s ambition.

5.3 The latest data indicated the government was making excellent progress on rolling out funded childcare, and it had been offered to almost 75% of all 2-year-olds across Wales in 2025-2026.

5.4 At the start of the current Senedd, only 3 local authorities, Newport, Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea had rolled out 12.5 hours to all 2-year-olds, with Wrexham reaching full rollout of this phase in June. Indications were that a further 16 would complete rollout this financial year, taking the total to 20. Discussions were continuing with the remaining 2 to consider what was possible.

5.5 In terms of funding, current modelling suggested core childcare costs for children aged 9 months to 4 years would require additional funding of between £250 million and £500 million, with £375 million as a midpoint estimate. Precise funding would depend on take up rates, with 50%-80% rates making up the low- and high-end estimates of the current range.

5.6 Cabinet welcomed the update and noted the Deputy First Minister would be making a statement on Early Years, Childcare and Play to the Siambr the following day.

Cabinet Secretariat
July 2026