2. Will the Minister make a statement on flood risk in Clwyd West? OAQ(5)0040(ERA)

Thank you. As with many parts of Wales, flood risk in Clwyd West comes from rivers, sea and surface water. To reduce this risk, Clwyd West has benefited from more than £20 million of investment over the past five years, including work at Colwyn Bay, Ruthin and Kinmel Bay.

And thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for the investment that the Welsh Government has made available to protect homes and businesses from flooding in my constituency. But, of course, individuals can take some responsibility to protect their own properties as well. And you will be aware that, over the border in England, there are grants of up to £5,000 to individual homeowners, to help them make their properties more resilient, but no such grants are available here in Wales. What consideration has the Cabinet Secretary given to making such grants available, so that people can accept some responsibility, to support making their own properties more flood resilient?

Well, we don’t provide those types of grants to individual homeowners; rather, we focus on funding much larger schemes to benefit groups of properties or communities. We do support property-level resilience, when brought forward, as an appropriate solution by local authorities or by Natural Resources Wales, and we provide grant funding for that purpose. I think what we’re doing is presently allocating budgets for community-wide alleviation schemes, which, in most cases, have a greater cost benefit and also provide a greater level of protection.

A tidal lagoon for north Wales, of course, is one possible way of contributing towards tackling flood problems and coastal erosion in Clwyd West. So, could you give us an update on where your Government is in terms of any practical support that you’re giving to developing the potential of a tidal lagoon in north Wales?

Yes, I’ve had discussions with the tidal lagoon company, and one of the advantages they referred to, when talking about the possible tidal lagoon around the Colwyn Bay area, was the fact that it would offer resilience against flooding. So, again, those discussions are ongoing.