Item 6 on the agenda this afternoon is a statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs on flood and coastal erosion risk management, and I call on the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths. 

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The landscape and coastline of Wales have been shaped by powerful and inspiring natural forces that continue to influence where and how we live. One of the challenges we face is how best to mitigate the risks and adapt to change as individuals, across communities and as a nation. Within this context, I am pleased to have this opportunity to update Members on the important work we are doing to underpin flood and coastal risk management activity in Wales.

Flooding can have a devastating and lasting impact on the lives of those affected, which is why it remains a priority for this Government. Last autumn, Storm Callum was a reminder of why our continued work and investment in this area remains vital. As a result of that storm, over 270 properties across Wales were flooded, with further damage across the country to homes, schools, roads and shops—the things we all depend upon and often take for granted in our daily lives. Such events serve as a reminder of why we need to be prepared, why it's important we are all aware and well-informed of the risks faced, and why we must continue to build resilience in our communities.

We continue to invest in flood-risk mitigation and coastal defence work right across Wales. To benefit those living most at risk, we prioritise our investment on the protection of properties. This year we've seen schemes at Borth-y-gest in Gwynedd, Mochdre in Conwy, Roath in Cardiff, Porthcawl in Bridgend and at Pontarddulais, which the First Minister and I will officially open later this week. These works alone have reduced risk to over 960 properties, meaning many families and communities are now safer than they were and not living with the same worries brought by severe weather.

Today, I will share an overview of the flood and coastal defence programmes for the next financial year, and highlight some of the key areas of work we will be progressing. They include consulting on a new national strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management and the establishment of a new statutory flood and coastal erosion committee for Wales. This coming financial year will see the start of a three-year construction window on works to better protect our coastal communities. The coastal risk management programme will deliver investment of over £150 million across Wales, reducing risk to over 18,000 properties. Coastal schemes starting this coming year include east Rhyl, Aberavon and y Felinheli.  I've also set aside funding from this year’s capital budget for the design and development of future schemes. I encourage local authorities to now move forward with this work, recognising the unique opportunity this programme provides. 

In addition to the coastal risk management programme, over the next 12 months we will invest over £50 million into flood and coastal erosion risk management across Wales, prioritised on reducing risks to properties. This includes a capital programme of £27 million on new schemes, maintenance of existing assets and the development of future schemes. This funding will, for example, support the completion of schemes at Beaumaris and Talgarth, as well as commencing construction works at Llansannan, Llanmaes, Newport and Welshpool. On completion of schemes within the programme, over 1,200 properties, including over 850 homes, across Wales will benefit.

Also important is the development of future schemes, for which we will provide over £2.8 million- worth of funding to local authorities and Natural Resources Wales. This will support the development and design of important new schemes for future years, increasing protection and resilience in places such as Llangefni, Cwmbach, Cardigan and Newcastle Emlyn.

I will also continue to set aside £1 million for the small scale works grant, which allows local authorities to undertake minor schemes and maintenance works to benefit communities. Over the past four years, we have invested over £5.8 million this way, and it has made a real impact, helping more than 2,200 properties across Wales.

Wales has already set the benchmark in terms of its approach to sustainable drainage systems, or SuDS, for new developments. This complements our approach to managing water in a more natural way, and I am pleased to see this coming through in the flood programme.

In the coming year, we will support schemes incorporating natural flood management at Betws-y-Coed and Abergele in Conwy and at Cwmaman in Rhondda Cynon Taf. I am also encouraged to see a number of schemes not just looking at the issues in one location but taking a whole-catchment approach, tackling risk across a wider area. This is something I want to promote and I will be setting out our thinking in our new national strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management. 

As we look wider, opportunities are opening up to work in partnership with others whose assets will benefit. Seeking contributions from such sources is vital in these times of challenging budgets, maximising our investment and building wider resilience. I am encouraged to see such thinking is already starting to happen, with housing associations, transport and utility providers being identified as potential partners. We need to ensure this continues.

With significant investment happening across the country, I want to see the benefits of this funding realised. A key part of this is showing the impacts of new and improved assets in our flood maps and online information. This helps us realise the economic and social improvements that come with making a community safer. It also allows the people of Wales to understand the risks they face, make informed decisions about the places they live and know how to support themselves should flooding occur. In our new strategy, I am asking NRW to focus on these improvements and ensure updated information is provided on an annual basis to show the impact of our continued investment. To support this work, I am once again planning to maintain NRW’s revenue budget this coming year, recognising the important work this supports, including the provision of information, awareness-raising activities, maintenance of assets and investigation work.

I will be consulting on our new national strategy this spring, which will have a strong focus on information and delivery. It will clarify roles and responsibilities, provide updates on policy, including the encouragement of natural flood risk management, and incorporate recommendations from recent reports. The strategy will stress the importance of flood risk mapping to inform decisions around where we invest and complement our planning policy to direct development away from high-risk areas. To support this, new flood risk maps will be made public on NRW’s website before the end of this year.

I would like to finish, Deputy Presiding Officer, by announcing the recruitment for the new flood and coastal erosion committee is complete. The committee will provide high-level strategic advice to Welsh Ministers and promote best practice, helping ensure we continue to lead the way in this area and learn from good work happening elsewhere.

Today's statement sets out how this Government will put the sustainable management of our environment at the heart of decision making to further reduce flood and coastal risk to homes and businesses across Wales.

Minister, thank you for your statement this afternoon—part 2 of out interaction this afternoon. Anyone who's dealt with any constituency work knows the trauma that flooding brings. What was once a living room is, in essence, once it's been flooded, a sewer. The devastation of personal, family items lost forever, basically, and then the financial blight because of the inability to raise a mortgage or to be able to sell the property and just move on with one's life are cataclysmic in any circumstances.

So, the ability for NRW and its partner agencies, along with the Welsh Government, to make resources available, is a critical demand, if you like, that people place on Government to make that resource available. But it is a huge responsibility when you think of the coastal responsibilities that we have here in Wales, along with the inland waterways as well as the spontaneous flooding that we see. Only today, coming into the Assembly on the A48, because of the flash flooding there, a car had aquaplaned out of control. You could argue that the drainage system wasn't suitable to handle the volume of water that hit at that particular moment, you could, then. So, I don't envy some of the decisions you as a Minister have to take or indeed the sponsoring bodies that you obviously fund, such as NRW.

But it is vital that we do get this right, and I'd be keen to understand the Minister's take on this: is there any withdrawal from areas of Wales that, potentially in 20, 30, 40, 50 years' time could succumb to coastal erosion or chronic flooding? Because only three or four years ago, there were reports that there was a serious train of thought that, actually, we would, from a strategic point of view, withdraw from certain areas because they would just prove too costly to prevent and to put money into to prevent that flooding happening. And I think an assurance that that isn't part of the mainstream thinking, not just from the Government but from its sponsored agencies, would be most welcome indeed.

I also note from the statement that you talk about the new flood and coastal erosion committee being completed. It would be interesting to understand how that committee might work differently from what's happened before, albeit earlier on in the statement it does talk about there being consultations on the new strategic flood and coastal erosion risk management and the establishment of the new strategic flood and coastal erosion committee for Wales. Now, I might have misread that, but it seems to confirm later on in the statement that the committee's already established, yet earlier in the statement it talks of consulting on its way of working and the way it might undertake its duties. So, I'd be grateful for any understanding if there is to be further consultation, even though everyone's been appointed to that committee. But, more importantly, it would be good to understand what new capacity that will bring to the Minister and the planning for flood prevention across Wales.

Importantly, it is vital to understand how the planning system is being used to obviously assist and help in flood prevention matters. You only need to drive around Cardiff, for example—the First Minister here in his own constituency—and many hard-standing areas are introduced into residential environments that, historically, would have been gardens or areas that would have acted as a drainage pond for that particular property. And that is a common cause of flash flooding instances in many communities, where the water just simply doesn't have anywhere to go, basically. You talked about the SuDS and the new regulations that have come in. That has made a difference, but we're still seeing a constant deterioration of, in particular in the urban environment, some of that natural drainage that existed when a lot of these estates were developed 30, 40, 50 years ago.

I'm very pleased to see that you're advocating improvements in the mapping and understanding of the use of maps. As a Member in this institution now for some 12 years, I've dealt with various flooding matters in communities from Roath Brook to Llanmaes and Llantwit Major, and Barry as well, and when you do start going into these maps—I like to think I'm a reasonably educated person, but even people in society, the general public, would struggle to understand exactly the demands that are placed on how decisions are made. So, any simplification of that has to be very welcome indeed.

Finally, if I could press the Minister to maybe enlarge on how she seeks to share responsibility and costs. Many assets around Wales are joint assets. This doesn't just fall—I do have an element of sympathy with the Government when they're constantly being asked for money to go into flood prevention when, in fact, if you take the A55 and the north Wales coast railway line as well, there surely is a joint gain and joint benefit there from other public bodies and private companies coming to the table with some resource and some asset that would help projects come forward to realisation.

So, I thank you for your statement this afternoon, but I'd be most grateful for some substantive answers on the questions that I've put to you, please.

Thank you very much, Andrew R.T. Davies, for those questions, and I think you opened with and articulated very well the devastating impact flooding has on individuals, not only the financial, but also the sentimental, and I don't think we can underestimate the impact that that could have on an individual.

Difficult budget decisions do have to be made, but I think by investing over £350 million in the lifetime of this Assembly, it shows Welsh Government's commitment to this. You asked whether we were going to retreat from our coast because of flooding difficulties and things that we could experience further down the line. Nothing has come past me on my desk, certainly, to give that impression, so I think it's absolutely right that we continue to put funding into our businesses and homes where we can to protect them.

I mentioned the new flood and coastal erosion committee. This takes over from the flood risk management Wales committee that we had, and we've been recruiting for this committee. We announced the chair back in September—no, he actually took up post on 1 September 2018, and we've taken our time to get this committee together. It's going to be an advisory body that's going to advise myself and colleagues from Welsh risk management authorities on all sources of flooding and coastal erosion. It will have a really important role to play, but I did also say that we are preparing a new national strategy for flood and coastal risk management, and we've been doing that over the past year. We've been working very closely with our stakeholders, and that includes NRW, it includes local authorities and other policy areas on content on the potential measures that will be needed as we take on this.

We're also going to consult on the new planning advice in relation to technical advice note 15, and you referred to that and to the flood risk maps that will be available for people to access. You raised a point about simplification, I think that's absolutely right. It's really important that we give individuals good flood risk information and that we have strategic planning. So, the draft document, the draft strategy, will really set out the future direction in managing flood risk. It will encourage collaborative catchment approaches to addressing flood risk and it will work with others. I'm very keen to see more done about natural flood management.

You referred to our new legislation around SuDS—the sustainable drainage systems—and I think the commitment to managing water in our environment better is a vital foundation for achieving prosperity for all and delivering our long-term well-being goals for the people of Wales and, certainly, the SuDS regulations we brought in have been very welcome. You mentioned—just today we had that heavy rain, probably as we were all coming to work this morning, and the impacts of surface water flooding, again, can be devastating. You referred to a car, but it can certainly be devastating on citizens and communities. And, again, the cost to the Welsh economy can be significant. So, we had storm Callum back last autumn and the impact of that demonstrated the risks to properties of surface water flooding, and I think those risks are obviously increasing due to climate change and urbanisation.

I think you made a very pertinent point around responsibilities and costs, and there's a very good example of that—and you referred to the A55—in Darren Millar's constituency. The scheme that the local authority are bringing forward there: the main beneficiaries of that are the promenade, the sewers, the railway line. So, I think it's really important that it's not just Welsh Government that contributes, that we all need to contribute. So, my officials are working with Clwyd County Borough Council. We're having discussions also with Ken Skates's department here and the key beneficiaries I mentioned: Network Rail, Dŵr Cymru, because I do think it is important that it's not just Government that has to put the funding in.

Thank you, Minister, for your statement. I'll start on that point, I think, because, really, we've been talking about these other people coming to the table for the best part of a decade, and it's still pretty vague, I have to say. There's been talk of insurance companies. You mentioned Network Rail, and, yes, clearly, the north Wales coastal rail line is susceptible to erosion and flooding, and the Conwy valley—how many times has that line been closed because of flooding and erosion there? But we're still talking about how 'opportunities are opening up' and 'potential partners'. This is 10 years down the line. So, really, what I'm asking is—. You can give us a bland statement, but tell us: what levers are you using to bring these people to the table? Clearly, finances in the public sector are contracting, but they're contracting—. The private sector isn't awash either, and corporate social responsibility isn't going to give us the transformational change that we want to see in that respect. So, what is it? Is it planning? Is it regulations? Give us something specific that you're using as a tool to bring these people to the table and not just these platitudes that we've now been getting used to over the last 10 years. So, that was the negative bit. [Laughter.]

There is much to welcome in the statement, and I don't want to characterise it by being totally critical of everything that is there, although I do find it interesting, actually, that you say a number of schemes don't just look at issues in one location but take a whole-catchment approach. Surely, all schemes should take a catchment approach, albeit with different, sort of, answers and mitigating measures, because, otherwise, it's just sticking plaster, isn't it, to try and address a wider, more fundamental flooding risk. And whilst you give us a good picture, really, in terms of the geographical breakdown of investment, I'm just wondering whether you could provide us, not necessarily in your answer, but maybe in written form, some sort of indication of the split in funding that you're articulating here between hard flood defence and softer mitigation measures. What proportion of this funding is actually going to be spent on concrete bunds and what proportion is being invested in tree planting, in peat bog restoration and those softer measures that, of course, will have a longer term benefit than mixing more and more concrete?

And if we want to pan out to an even more holistic view, then, clearly, what other additional benefits can we enjoy from those investments? There was mention of the rain earlier—I never complain when it rains because it's free hydro fuel. It's money falling from the sky, and we need to harness it. So, how are we looking to utilise and implement, through these flood management projects, opportunities on hydro for example? And, of course, we know that the tidal lagoon proposals offer huge benefits, not only in terms of renewable energy, climate change and job creation, but also in terms of mitigating flooding along the coast and coastal erosion as well. So, how do those fit in to some of the things that you've been telling us here today?

You say that you're maintaining NRW's revenue budget this coming year; maintaining is one thing, but, of course, if you only maintain it, then there is actually a real-terms cut. So, is it fair to expect that they maintain the existing level of activity if there is a real-terms cut? And I'm coming back again, as I always do when NRW comes up, to whether it's properly resourced in order to deliver its functions in a way that we would wish and we would expect.

Finally, you say that your planning policy is going to direct development away from high-risk areas. That's great. Does that mean, in a tangible sense, that you're updating planning guidance? Technical advice notice 15 hasn't been updated since 2004, so is it time to do that? And the new flood risk maps that you say will be made public, well, if it's found that land will now, according to these new flood risk maps, be susceptible to flooding, if that land is allocated for development, will you therefore ensure that it's de-allocated? Because if not, then, clearly, it's just storing up problems for future generations.

Diolch, Llyr Huws Gruffydd. So, we'll start with Old Colwyn, and again, you see, you're saying to Welsh Government, 'When are you going to bring these people to the table?' This is a matter for Conwy County Borough Council. They're the ones who keep coming to us, asking for money, and they're the ones who need to be talking to these partners. My officials have spoken to the local authority, they have spoken to Network Rail, they have spoken to Dŵr Cymru, but, again, this focus on Welsh Government being the enabler all the time has to change. So, those conversations are going on. I took the decision not to include this scheme for funding through this capital programme because it doesn't meet the objectives of the programme, I feel, to reduce risk to properties, and that has to be the priority—to reduce the risk to properties and business. But I do recognise the challenges that obviously important local infrastructure, like the A55, have to withstand. So, my officials are continuing to work with other parts of Government—I mentioned that my colleague Ken Skates' officials are also involved in this, from a transport point of view—and the external parties to look at how we can jointly fund these coastal defence works.

I think you're quite right about harder and softer defences. I can't give you the percentages, but I can take a very good guess that the harder defences will be much the higher priority because, unfortunately, you think of flood defence and people think of concrete. So, this is why I'm very keen to pursue these untraditional flood risk management defences. They can reduce the risk of flooding, and through the national strategy, I do want to encourage much more of the natural flood risk management methods. It could be a stand-alone scheme, it could be part of a hybrid scheme. I think it could complement engineered works. Obviously, SuDS is much more about using natural resources, and as I said in my answer to Andrew R.T. Davies, those regulations have been very much welcomed.

You mentioned the tidal lagoon, and certainly when the UK Government was looking at the Swansea bay tidal lagoon as a pilot scheme, we were obviously looking at others, and the one in north Wales had a lot of flood defence capacity and capability within it. So, certainly, it's not just about renewable energy, is it? It is about the additional benefits that it could bring.

You'll be aware of the 'Brexit and our land' consultation, and certainly, I think, under the public goods schemes, I want to see much more peat bog restoration, flood storage areas, grass buffers. I think we can manage hill slopes in a much more appropriate way. So, I think, again, the post-Brexit agricultural policy will give us opportunities there too.

I will be working very closely with my colleague Julie James, who is the Minister with responsibility for planning, around TAN 15. Obviously if we do realise that there are areas that have been allocated for housing developments that we realise are at a very high risk of being flooded, that's something that we will need to look at, as to how that land is then treated.

Thank you, Minister, for your statement today. Flooding is one of the most frequent types of major disaster, and moreover it can be a particularly traumatic one. Numerous studies reveal significant increases in depression, anxiety and distress amongst those affected by flooding. It's also one that's affected many people in my constituency. I'm sure you'll remember that, last year, Aberdare was described as the town hardest hit by storm Callum, with roads closed, trains cancelled, one train having to be evacuated by the fire service after being caught in flood water, and—perhaps more importantly—residential and commercial properties being flooded as well. I certainly have assisted a number of residents who have attended my surgeries and shown those symptoms of trauma that families do experience after floods.

I welcome your comment about supporting schemes incorporating natural flood management, including at Cwmaman in my constituency. Schemes such as this can have a tremendous benefit, both to the ecosystem and protecting our green spaces as well as alleviating flooding. So, I would welcome some additional points if you'd be able to expand on that, and what could be done to engage with the local community as part of this work.

I also welcome your comments about working with local authorities. I note, as part of the RCTinvest programme, alleviation works have and will be carried out in Mountain Ash and Abercwmboi. However, I know previously that EU funding has been used to protect hundreds of properties across Rhondda Cynon Taf from the risk of flooding, and responding to storm Callum brought particular financial challenges both to the local authority and to Welsh Government, who then stepped in to give additional financial assistance. So, what long-term plan do you have to ensure that if we leave the EU there is not a funding gap moving forwards?

Finally, in light of your earlier statement on forestry, what role does afforestation have to play in preventing the risk of flooding?

I thank Vikki Howells for those questions, and you, too, articulated, I think, very eloquently about the impact on people who experience flooding. And even just being evacuated from a train, I can imagine how stressful that could be. And of course we are aware of what happened in your constituency with storm Callum.

I think it's absolutely vital that individuals have the latest information and are able to access information very quickly around flooding risk. Obviously, with NRW, you can sign up and you can have information, and we are looking at updating that going forward.

You referred to local authorities and the small-scale works grants, and I've certainly had many discussions with local authorities about the very positive impact this grant has had. Over the past four years, we've provided about £5 million to local authorities to undertake small-scale works to reduce flood risk. I think, altogether now, it's protected about 6,000 homes and businesses, which again, I think if—. There are much wider benefits to be got from the small schemes, but I think local authorities, before we had this much more simplified application process, weren't applying, because they were looking at the big picture and not seeing the benefits that these very small schemes brought forward. So, I think that funding has been very welcome and I'm very pleased to be bringing forward another £1 million in the next round. Twenty-one of the 22 local authorities have applied and been successful in accessing that funding, so I think it shows that the simplified process is working.

I mentioned afforestation in my answer to Llyr Huws Gruffydd, and I think this is one of the benefits of having our own agricultural policy here in Wales, and I think, under the public goods scheme for things that haven't got a market at the moment, we will be able to encourage farmers, for instance, to look at having more woodland on their farms.

Around EU funding, yes—what's the European Union ever done for us? I think you're absolutely right. It's a huge sum of money that comes into Wales from the European Union. You'll be aware that, before the referendum, we were promised that we would not lose a penny, and everyone on this front bench is ensuring that we hold the UK Government to that, because it would create a massive gap.

The Llywydd took the Chair.

Can I thank the Minister for her statement? I do welcome much of what she has said today. Can I thank in particular the Minister for the Welsh Government's investment in Mochdre, in Llanfair Talhaiarn and in Abergele, all of which have been outlined in the statement? Can I welcome as well the investment that has taken place in places like Colwyn Bay and in Kinmel Bay in the past, in my constituency, too? And indeed in Ruthin. As you can tell from the long list of names, my constituency's particularly prone to flooding, particularly along the coastal belt, and one of the things that has been alarming in recent years is that we've got recurrent problems along some parts of that coast. So, Sandy Cove, for example, is particularly prone to overtopping when onshore winds combine with high tides. That's a situation that isn't going away. There's been some resilience that's been put in place, with some secondary defences, but it needs some significant investment if we're ever to resolve that problem once and for all.

Now, I hear what the Minister has to say in terms of the formula, if you like, that is used to assess and determine the priority in terms of spend, and quite rightly that is focused very much on the number of homes and businesses that will be protected. But of course many parts of the coast there that are prone to flooding are caravan areas—they're holiday homes—but they don't meet the same criteria as a permanent residential home. I do think that some of these nuances need to be considered perhaps a little bit more appropriately when the funding is distributed in order that those can also be afforded some protection, particularly as we have 12-month licences for many of the holiday homes along that part of the coast. There are areas of Abergele and Pensarn where there's erosion taking place along the sea defences, and I'm very concerned about their vulnerability going forward. 

Obviously I've listened very carefully to what you've said, quite rightly, about the need for other partners to come to the table in order to address the concerns around the Old Colwyn area. That again is a place where it's transport infrastructure and sewerage infrastructure in particular that are vulnerable, but not many homes. Yet the reality is that, because of this current impasse, the likelihood of anything being delivered there anytime soon is pretty dim, and pretty low. I do think, Minister, that it is going to take the sort of leadership that you've been able to provide elsewhere in Wales in order to knock heads together and get the right people and decision makers around the table in order to make things happen. I wonder whether the Welsh Government could call a summit of decision makers, of Welsh Water, Network Rail, Conwy County Borough Council and anybody else with an interest in that particular part of the coast in order that we can try to get a timetable together and get the investment on the table that needs to take place in order for that work to be done. Because I can't stress this enough: I've seen parts of the railway embankment washed away in storms in recent years. They've been repaired, yes, but they're patch repairs and unfortunately, at some point, there will be a catastrophic failure.

I lived in Tywyn at the time of the Tywyn floods, and there we had a sea defence that was designed, really, to protect the railway, which, once it gave way, caused thousands of people to have to be evacuated and thousands of homes to be flooded. It was because of the negligence, really, of what was British Rail at the time, which was responsible primarily for that asset. I don't want to see that sort of catastrophic failure of an important flood defence asset take place again, and I do think it's going to require, I'm afraid, some leadership, some sort of summit arranged by the Welsh Government, in order to move things forward. And I wonder whether you would consider that as something that you could perhaps do in order to inch that project through to completion.

Thank you, Darren Millar, and, yes, I'm very aware of the difficulties several parts of your constituency has experienced with flooding. I certainly remember the floods in Towyn, probably nearly 30 years ago. Around Old Colwyn—I explained why it's not part of this programme. Certainly, a caravan park is a business, so I think we need to have a look at that, perhaps, in a more imaginative way, and I will certainly ask my officials to do so. I think we have brought everybody together, but perhaps we need to bring everybody together again, and I will certainly write to the chief executive of Conwy County Borough Council to see if he can arrange for a meeting, and I'm sure you would be invited to attend also.

I'm not going to repeat anything that's already been said, so you'll be pleased or know that, but I think there's one thing in all of this that can't be denied—although there are those here who will—and that is the fact that we're experiencing an awful lot of climate change. We've had the hottest February ever on record, and a consequence of very high temperatures in the winter will be storms that will follow. And the consequence of the storms, of course, will be areas subject to being flooded. So, we're seeing more and more areas that have never experienced flooding before experiencing it now for the very first time. And it makes it virtually impossible to predict where that flooding incident might happen. So, I welcome your different approach about not putting concrete down just as way of combating what we don't know, really, we're looking at.

So, in terms of thinking differently, I wonder if you would consider, when we have large-scale developments, in terms of the car parking arrangements, that we don't have non-permeable car parking arrangements, but we actually move now to the different solutions that are already happening in smaller scale developments. Because I think it's hugely important that, if we're talking about towns that are experiencing flooding, and we're putting down some development, we need to really think about the consequence of what we're doing, and I think that that would be hugely beneficial.

I do thank you for your statement and I am really pleased to welcome £150 million for a nationwide programme of flood protection works. And I do also welcome money to complete two important Powys schemes—one in Talgarth and one in Welshpool—because Welshpool town centre has been specifically hard hit in the past, as has Talgarth. So, I know those people in those areas will really welcome this fund.

But I suppose my overall plea today is that we will need to think—and it's evidenced already by your statement—differently, and that here, definitely, prevention will be much better than cure, since we don't know what those weather patterns are going to be, and we don't know when we're going to experience extreme, heavy downpours. And unlike some in this Chamber, I do recognise that we are going through a period where the weather patterns are changing rapidly.

Thank you, Joyce Watson. And you're absolutely right—climate change is obviously having a massive impact on our weather and you referred to the hottest February I think we've had. And you could see this morning from the flash floods that we had that this is going to become ever-occurring, I think, as we go forward.

I'm very pleased you mentioned two schemes in your area, and you also made a very important point—we cannot defend all parts of Wales from flooding, but I do think there are opportunities for a much more sustainable and natural form of coastal management in certain areas. I think salt marshes, for instance, dunes and coastal vegetation can dissipate wave energy and reduce coastal flood risk. So, I really do want to encourage the use of natural flood risk management techniques as a measure for reducing risks to homes and businesses, and this position will be set out in our new national strategy.

Natural flood risk management should always be considered, I think. You referred to large-scale schemes. I think natural flood risk management should be considered when appraising any flood scheme. It may not always be the best solution—you know, we are going to need hard defences—but I think effective land management at a catchment area may be able to reduce the need for larger defences, for instance. So, I think they always should be considered.

Thank you for your statement, Minister. The RSPB's state of nature report highlighted the fact that erosion results in the loss of 2 million tonnes of topsoil each year in the UK. The loss of topsoil goes beyond the impact this has on the availability of fertile land for agriculture. The degraded land impacts the soil's ability to hold onto water, which can lead to increased flood risk. So, Minister what action is your Government taking to tackle soil erosion in Wales?

Farmland has an important role to play in mitigating flood risk. Post Brexit, we will have an opportunity to reformulate our financial support for agriculture. Minister, what consideration have you given to introducing a payment scheme for farmers to maintain natural flood management schemes, such as planting new flood plains, or creating new ponds, ditches and embanked reservoirs?

We are facing increased flood risks in the coming decades as a result of our climate changing. Minister, how does the Government intend to change planning policies to ensure that all new developments and any new infrastructure projects make sufficient provision for water capture and reduce the amount of run-off? I have attended several meetings within my region where flooding has left constituents devastated. 

Finally, Minister, with regard to coastal erosion, my region has suffered huge erosion as a result of Welsh Government policies to allow the removal of millions of tonnes of sand from the Bristol channel, which resulted in the loss of sand from our beaches. Minister, will you rule out any future licensing for sand dredging in the Bristol channel in order to protect the beaches of South Wales West from coastal erosion? Thank you.

Thank you, Caroline Jones, for those questions. You articulated how climate change is affecting our wildlife and our biodiversity, and you referred to topsoil. I go back to what I was saying about natural flood risk management: I think it's really important that we look at all management techniques as a measure for preventing such things occurring. I've mentioned our national strategy, which is currently being drafted, and that will look at how we need to look at innovative and natural flood risk management solutions, alongside the more traditional defence schemes, which, as you will have heard me saying to Joyce Watson in answer to her questions, we will always need. But it is really important that we look at new innovation.

I think in Wales we're really ideally placed to integrate such approaches—we've got established engineering schemes—and I think that's because we work very closely with risk management authorities and NRW. I do think there are so many opportunities for a more sustainable and natural form of coastal management and it's really important that we bring those forward. I mentioned I will be working closely with my colleague Julie James, who has responsibility for planning, looking at planning policy. Obviously, 'Planning Policy Wales' 10 was brought in in December, and the Minister will also be bringing forward the national development plan. I think it's really important that we look at those two in relation to flooding. 

Thank you, Minister.