Storm Dennis

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:10 pm on 25 February 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:10, 25 February 2020

I thank Vikki Howells for that, and let me equally pay tribute to the actions that local Members across the Chamber have taken in their local constituencies to respond to the difficulties that local residents have faced. I know that Members here have been hard at work over the last fortnight in north and south Wales in making sure that local residents know that this National Assembly, this Senedd, takes very seriously the predicament that they have faced—my colleague Lesley Griffiths in Llangollen and Llanrwst, and Ken Skates as the Minister for north Wales in north Wales, as well as the visits to which Vikki Howells has referred. 

As to the UK Government, the help that I look for from them is not necessarily visits, but the harder edged help of cash—the money that we will need, the money that, as I mentioned a moment ago, was taken away from us over the last few weeks, that money needs to be restored so that we are able to make sure that whether it is our very hard-pressed local authorities, or whether it is NRW as we heard earlier, that those organisations on the ground have the money they need to be able to deal not just with the events of these weeks, but the events of months ahead for affected communities.