6. Will the First Minister provide an update on how the Welsh Government is supporting communities in dealing with the cost of recent flooding? OAQ55190

Llywydd, the Welsh Government has put in place a package of support for individuals, businesses and local authorities in the immediate response phase to the flooding. We will consider what further support we can give as more information becomes available, and as things move into the recovery phase.

Thank you for your response, First Minister, and thank you, more importantly, for the proactive work that you and your Government has carried out. The scale of the damage caused to infrastructure by the recent flooding is becoming all too clear, with, for example, in Rhondda Cynon Taf alone, nine bridges having to be replaced, in addition to damage to roads, culverts and river walls, with an estimated cost to my local authority of £44 million and rising. Now, the UK Government has recognised its responsibility, so isn't it time the Prime Minister puts his money where his mouth is? Will you raise with the UK Government the need for them to provide sufficient financial support to make sure that we can properly repair the damage to infrastructure?

Llywydd, of course we're heartened to hear the Prime Minister say in the House of Commons that cash certainly will be passported through to Wales to assist in the recovery phase. My colleague Rebecca Evans raised this directly with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in London earlier today, and we do look forward—in the budget tomorrow, if possible, but if not then, as urgently as can be thereafter—to receiving more than an assurance, but some hard cash. Because, as Vikki Howells has said, Llywydd, while the Welsh Government has been able to find and to fund, from our resources, help for individuals, businesses and for local authorities in dealing with the immediate impact of the flooding, when it comes to bridges that have been washed away or need to be demolished, roads that will need to be reconstructed, and flood defences that will have to be revisited and re-strengthened, capital investment on that scale is what the United Kingdom is there to help to provide. We look forward to the Prime Minister's assurance turning into the help that local authorities in Wales need.

First Minister, of course you will be aware that a number of businesses in Llanrwst were flooded out on 9 February as a result of storm Ciara, yet it was only 4 March 2020 when the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales directly announced financial support for businesses. That was nearly a month after the event. Some have ceased trading, some are awaiting insurance payouts, and some have had to turn to savings to continue operating elsewhere. Whilst we all welcomed the £2.5 million support on the day the funding was announced, your Welsh Government explained that

'Further details on how to apply for the fund will be made available in the coming days through...Business Wales.'

This is unacceptable, as is the fact that, as of yesterday, Business Wales was still advising that the application forms for the funding are not available. Will—[Interruption.] Do you mind?

Just ask the—. You need to ask a question, Janet Finch-Saunders.

Will you explain, First Minister, why you have betrayed the businesses in Llanrwst, why they've had to wait a month and they've still not seen a penny, and what measures will be taken to improve this access to much-needed funding? It is a disgrace.

Well, Llywydd, the Member lets herself down, as she does for the second time in a week. She lets herself down when she uses language of the sort that she did to me in posing that question. There will be help for businesses in her constituency from the Welsh Government. Not a penny from her Government. She talks about a month on. Where was her Government? Where was the money coming from her—? Not a single penny. Let me tell you that. Reflect on that, maybe, when you make these accusations in future.

There is £2.5 million that I am very glad indeed—very glad indeed, Llywydd—that will be made available to businesses in the Member's constituency. They know what they have to do; they have to contact Business Wales. And this is public money, Llywydd. It is absolutely right that Business Wales have to carry out a minimum number of proper checks to make sure that the money goes to the right people in a way that would stand up to scrutiny. Of course that is right. To give you an example, Llywydd, of how quickly help can be made through the discretionary assistance fund: we've now had hundreds and hundreds of payments already made, and hundreds of thousands of pounds in the hands of householders who needed that help. We will do the same with the help that we are providing to businesses and they will know that that help has come to them as a result of the decisions made by this Welsh Government, where her Government has done absolutely nothing.

I'm sure the people who've been affected by floods, the last thing they want to see is a shouting match in this Chamber.

I welcome the extra £500 that the Government has announced for people without home insurance for flood damage. I'm also grateful for the additional money that has been generously donated by people to the various appeal funds. Money raised throughout the Rhondda by individuals and groups will go directly to those affected, and it's fantastic that I can tell you this afternoon that Trade Centre Wales has donated £50,000 to the fund Rhondda Plaid Cymru established, which will clearly go a long away.

However, there is a disparity between what people in Wales are entitled to compared to what people who've been flooded in England can expect to receive. There they have a property flood resilience scheme that allows flood-hit homes and businesses to apply for up to £5,000 to help them become more resilient to future flooding. This would be so useful in many instances that I've come across, not least for some residents in the Britannia area of Porth, some of whom have had their back walls washed away. Where they used to have a protection against the river, now they're exposed, their gardens and their basements, to the surging River Rhondda. As things stand, those home owners are responsible and residents are not entitled, as far as I'm aware, to any support to remedy this and to protect themselves. As we both agree on the need to futureproof communities from flooding of this kind in the future, will you consider making a similar scheme available in Wales?

I thank the Member for that question and, indeed, for the tone in which it was asked, for her recognition of the help that has been provided. I want to absolutely associate myself with what she said about the enormously generous community response that there has been to people in distress. 

The funds that we have made available at this point, Llywydd, have been to deal with the immediate impact of the flooding—people whose goods have been destroyed and needed just an immediate cash injection to be able to deal with that impact. As we move into the recovery phase then of course we will look to see what other forms of help might be available. I'm very happy to study the example that the Member has highlighted this afternoon to see if something of that sort can be put in place here in Wales. 

First Minister, can I first of all thank you for how speedily you came into Treforest in the aftermath of the floods? Now, the Treforest industrial park is an area that has been massively hit: many, many businesses, tens of millions of pounds of damage, and there are many hundreds of jobs that are at stake on that. The first thing I'd say is that the three-month business rate credit that businesses are going to be getting if they've been affected is very much valued. I know that is being funded by Welsh Government, but I would like to make the point of course that there will be some businesses that will take a lot longer to actually be able to get up and running again and I wonder whether there is scope for flexibility where those who have particular difficulties in getting up and running would be able to get, perhaps, further extensions to that. I wonder if that's something you'll give some support to. 

The other point I would make is this: there are literally hundreds of jobs at stake in the Treforest industrial area and in this particularly difficult climate we're going through. Had they all been concentrated in one factory there would be immediate packages of support. Of course, with a lot of small businesses, it is a much more complex situation. I wonder if you would actually find time to pay a visit to the industrial estate there to meet with some of the businesses to discuss their particular needs, the support that has been given, but also what may need to be done in order to get that estate up and running and to protect those hundreds of jobs?

Llywydd, can I recognise the very particular impact that flooding has had on the Treforest industrial estate? The three-month business rate holiday that the Welsh Government will fund was, again, part of that immediate response package. I will be meeting the leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf council on Thursday of this week to discuss the recovery phase with him, including the recovery that is necessary at Treforest, and will of course take up with him whatever ideas he has and others have to be able to respond to the ongoing difficulty that businesses in that part of Wales face. 

Finally, question 7. Jenny Rathbone.