1. Will the Deputy Minister provide an update on the community facilities programme? OAQ54469

I'm pleased to say that I've recently agreed community facilities programme grants worth £2.72 million to 22 projects. These awards bring the total number of projects funded by the programme to 157, a total of £27.3 million helping to improve community-run facilities across Wales.

Thank you, Deputy Minister, for that update. I truly welcome the CFAP funding in Cynon Valley. It has helped some really amazing projects to get off the ground. But having said that, from my experience of dealing with community groups that are going through the application process, the timelines given to them are often unclear, the dates by which they expect officials to reply to them, or for funding to be confirmed, can often slip, and that makes the process very, very stressful for applicants and can lead to them losing other vital grants that are time sensitive. Will the Welsh Government look into the CFAP process to see what more can be done to progress bids in a timely manner and to minimise the stress placed upon applicants?

I thank Vikki Howells very much for her question and also for recognition of what the community facilities programme has brought in terms of investment to her constituency of Cynon Valley. But it is also very helpful to have that feedback regarding the application process. I think one of the strengths of the community facilities programme is that it is a rolling programme; there's not one cut-off date. So, it means that we can make awards and grant decisions throughout the year, and often, as you say, it's in partnership with other funding bids. Each project has a named case officer and they must keep in regular contact and provide a focus for communication. But it is good to see that in Cynon Valley, those three projects recently approved, including Cylch Meithrin Seren Fach—a refurbished building and expanded services—is one that will make a huge difference to that community.

Minister, you just mentioned three of the projects in Cynon Valley. I didn't quite catch, at the start of that, the number of projects overall that have been given funding, so if you could repeat that, I'd be grateful. From my own perspective, I'd be interested to know if any projects in Monmouthshire have received money since the scheme has been going, and what's being done to ensure that there is an even spread across urban and rural areas when it comes to communities applying for this funding? And very finally, I notice that on page 13 of the Welsh Government live document, it mentions procurement and that there must be evidence provided of projects being properly procured and care taken to ensure it's fair. We often talk about the need to ensure that, or try to get as big a proportion of Welsh procurement as possible to our own businesses. I wonder if that's been factored into the application process at all.

Thank you, Nick Ramsay, for that question. I think, as there is a rolling programme of grants awarded—I know that over the years, Monmouthshire has benefited, but it very much depends on applications coming forward. As I said, there are 22 new projects just recently announced, and 157 since this programme started. I'll certainly write to you on any Monmouthshire projects that have come forward.FootnoteLink It is true that issues around procurement are important in terms of the grants that are awarded to these usually voluntary groups who are making applications, but also that procurement is fair and ethical. But also, we are now particularly looking at other issues in terms of any capital programmes that we are allocating funding for; that we also look at issues in terms of decarbonisation, biodiversity, impacts in terms of schemes that can, of course—. All of our capital funding now has to look at it through the lens of climate change.

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