May I endorse the thanks and the tributes that have been paid to the emergency workers, council workers, NRW workers, volunteers and the communities that have come together in light of the exceptional pictures that we have seen over the past few weeks?

May I ask first of all, Minister, how do you respond to two north Wales council leaders, in Denbighshire and Conwy, who have criticised the pace of the Government's response? There was no talk of a £500 payment for the residents affected in Llanrwst, in Llanfair Talhaiarn and so on and so forth. But of course, after the events in RCT, there was a major announcement that funding was to be made available. There was to be an initial £10 million and there would be more available later. I know the scale is different, but we must bear in mind that over 100 homes were affected in north Wales, and many tens of businesses too. So, how do you respond to the suggestion that the Government didn't respond as they should have done to the situation in north Wales until the events unfolded in south Wales?

The council in RCT is offering an additional £500. Some comments have been made, too, that regret the fact that Conwy council isn't offering an additional £500 payment to residents affected in places such as Llanrwst, and I would like to hear from you. Because the damage is the same and the impact is the same in terms of these floods, wherever you live. But it’s starting to look as if there was some kind of postcode lottery: if you live in the Rhondda, you'll have an additional £500, but if you live in Conwy, you won't. I would like to know: isn't consistency important? Isn't fairness important? And shouldn't there be equality of access to support, wherever you live? Isn't that important? I'd like to hear your response to that.

I've raised with you in committee, in this place and in other fora, some concerns about the resources available to NRW and the additional responsibilities placed upon them whilst their resources are shrinking. Now, there will be additional work emerging in response to what has happened, not only the direct response in dealing with the impacts, but there will be additional assessments to infrastructure and there may be public inquiries that may need to be led or contributed to. So will you commit, therefore, to ensuring that, if there is any additional work in light of this that falls on NRW that they will receive the necessary resource to deal with that?

It’s not just NRW; local authorities are in the same situation and, of course, there’s a wider range of bodies that we don't always mention: the North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agent, which is responsible for gulleys through Llanrwst, for example—and I see the Minister starting to listen now, having heard reference to that. We do need clarity that this whole range of relevant bodies have the necessary resources. While it is necessary to focus on the bigger picture and the major infrastructure schemes, we must bear in mind that it’s the day-to-day work, the spade work, quite literally, that is also important in terms of cleaning culverts, gulleys, and so on and so forth. So I want to know what assessment you as a Government will now make to ensure that this range of bodies has the necessary capacity for that spade work, and I would like to hear from you on that. 

There are a number of points on the planning system that would be better referred to the relevant Minister, and there will be an opportunity to do that on a future date, but a response to those three or four questions would be something I would be grateful for.