Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:42 pm on 25 February 2020.

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Photo of Paul Davies Paul Davies Conservative 1:42, 25 February 2020

First Minister, whilst some steps have rightly been taken and considerable progress has been made, I know first-hand from the conversations that I've had with some of those affected as well that they feel more could and should have been done sooner, and so it's clear that there are still lessons to be learnt and questions to answer.

Now, rightly or wrongly, some have expressed concerns around the co-ordination of the responses to some of these events, and I believe that that takes governments at all levels working together and collaborating more effectively than we've actually seen before. 

Now, you may be aware of concerns raised by Mari Arthur, chair of Welsh Water's independent advisory panel, who said that:

'We're missing that leadership, I feel, at the top to bring that together. That's why things aren't happening.'

Now, in addition to that, I understand that it's also been 10 years since the publication of the last flood risk management strategy and, whilst the Government has consulted, we are yet to see an updated strategy, which surely will help in making sure that responses are better co-ordinated in the future. 

First Minister, do you accept that the delay in publishing an updated specific Welsh flood risk management strategy has made some communities feel that flooding is simply not a priority? And how do you respond to the views of some in the sector that, moving forward, it's time that more effective leadership is shown on this matter?