4. Will the First Minister make a statement on the importance of seaside tourism in north Wales? OAQ(5)0644(FM)

Our coastal environment is a major attraction for many visitors who are drawn by the quality of our coastal landscape, wildlife and sea, and, of course, many of those seaside attractions are along the northern coast.

There are many of those seaside towns in my own constituency that benefit from tourism, including Towyn, Kimmel Bay, Llanddulas and, indeed, Colwyn Bay. But one of the things that puts that tourism industry at risk is the risk of coastal flooding, and I notice the publication of a report by the Public Accounts Committee today that criticised this distinct lack of leadership on the part of the Welsh Government in securing improvements in coastal flood defences. The First Minister will know, because I’ve raised it with him on many occasions, that I’m very concerned about the Old Colwyn promenade in my own constituency, which has been pummelled by storms year after year, which has severely damaged the integrity of that promenade, which protects, of course, the A55 trunk road and the north Wales railway line. I’d be grateful, First Minister, if you could step up to the plate and take a lead on this issue to ensure that that work is done as a matter of priority within this Assembly term.

Well, first of all, in terms of the committee’s report, it’s not quite what it says, to my mind. It does make the quite valid point that there are many different organisations who all have a responsibility for flooding—some seven. The point that the report was trying to say was, ‘Well, if things go wrong, who then is responsible?’, and that’s a valid question that we will consider as part of the response to the committee’s report. It may need legislation to make sure that the situation is clear. For example, Members will know I was, a year and a half ago now, on the A55, where flooding had occurred. Ultimately it was a matter for Gwynedd Council, but it needed funding from Welsh Government, so we worked together to deliver that. But, clearly, there is an issue here that will need to be resolved in terms of: is the situation robust enough if we have that many organisations—and individuals, quite often—who are responsible for controlling flooding? And we’ll consider our response to that as part of our response to the committee’s report.

Rules and regulations emerging from the European Union have, of course, been mostly responsible for the transformation that we’ve seen in the quality of sea water and the cleanliness of our beaches and the fact that so many of our beaches in north Wales now have blue flags, which has been a very important factor in attracting tourism. As we are leaving the European Union, of course, and Brexit is on the way, what can we do to ensure that we safeguard those environmental standards? What will you, as the Welsh Government, do to ensure that we never go back to a situation, as it was in the past, where our seas and beaches were amongst the dirtiest in the whole of Europe?

That’s quite right. There is no reason why we cannot retain the regulations that already exist and that’s something for Welsh Government and this Assembly to decide. But, no, we would not be in favour of reducing the standards there are at present. I can remember a time when the river going through the town where I was raised, Bridgend, flowed in different colours, depending on what had been chucked into the river—whether it be coal or lipstick—everything went into the river, and because of that, the river was red and green. Nobody wants to go back to that, but, of course, what’s important is that, although we may be leaving the European Union, it doesn’t mean to say that we have to change the rules here in Wales.