1. Will the Deputy Minister make a statement on the allocation of Community Facilities Programme funding in Rhondda Cynon Taf? OAQ55158

I am pleased to say that since the community facilities programme was opened in 2015, 14 projects in Rhondda Cynon Taf have benefited from a total of £1.67 million in capital funding.

Deputy Minister, the community fund has been vital in the development of a number of community facilities in my constituency, areas such as Ely Valley Miners, restoring that into a useful sports park for the local community, and many other projects as well. We've now, of course, had communities that have been devastated by flooding, including many of our community facilities as well, community areas, community resources and so on. And I wonder if there is any possibility of looking at the CFAP funding system to see whether there is sufficient flexibility to enable those community facilities in the flood-hit areas to be supported through the fund as quickly as possible, if that can be arranged, in order to assist with, not just the devastation to people's homes, but also the devastation that has occurred to their communities and their community facilities as a result of the recent flooding.

I thank the Member for Pontypridd for that very important question. I can say that I've already taken action to ensure that the community facilities programme will fast-track any applications from community facilities that have been affected by the recent floods. Just to remind Members here that the CFP, as it's called, can provide small grants of up to £25,000 to help quickly alleviate immediate problems that may prevent, for example, community facilities opening for business. But also of course there are much larger grants, which your constituency has benefited from, of up to £250,000 to carry out major renovation works. But I did give this message on Friday, when I visited Llanhilleth Miners Institute in Blaenau Gwent—just one of the many community facilities engaged with the tremendous community response. And I'm glad to be able to give that message again today, about the community facilities programme.

But you also, of course, will be aware of the Wales Council for Voluntary Action president's fund—it's now called Help Wales. They're distributing funding that's been raised through their president, Michael Sheen's, GoFundMe campaign. And third sector organisations affected by flooding can apply for up to £5,000 to help them rebuild. Of course, that's via the WCVA's grant team.