Answers issued to Members on 3 July 2007

[R] signifies that the Member has declared an interest.
[W] signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.

Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs

Mike German (South Wales East): Will the Minister make a statement on the cut in funding to the Welsh Culinary Team and the impact that the cut may have on the team’s performance in the forthcoming year? (WAQ51931)

The Minister for Rural Affairs (Elin Jones): Support is provided for the Culinary Team under a competitive promotional grant scheme, which has an overall budget of £114,400. This scheme was significantly oversubscribed as 24 applications were received with requests for funding of in excess of £290,000.

Promotional grant funding has been approved for four initiatives aimed at improving the competition skills of chefs within the hospitality sector during 2008/2009 of £41,000. This is a high proportion in relation to the available budget of £114,400.

The Welsh Culinary Association applied for 3 projects and had funding for £36,000 for the 3. The project in question I believe is the International project which was supported by the grant of £10,000. The grant last year was for £25,000, but some of the costs this year were considered excessive, hence the reduction. The amount supported to the association was considered over the 3 projects and each on its merit.

All applications were judged against specific criteria.