6. Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's flood recovery and prevention action in Rhondda Cynon Taf? OQ55309

Thank you. The Welsh Government provided £3 million emergency funding to our flood risk management authorities by the start of April. This includes £549,500 to Rhondda Cynon Taf, which is the full amount they applied for. They also received £1.7 million through the emergency financial assistance scheme to fund their initial response.

Thank you for that answer, Minister, and your earlier comments on the flooding issue. The further flooding that was recently experienced in parts of Rhondda Cynon Taf just weeks ago is a warning to us all. If it were not for the proactive response from Rhondda Cynon Taf and from Welsh Water, things could have been, in fact, a great deal worse and even more extensive. Most of the flooding this time in my constituency was around the Nantgarw and Rhydyfelin areas and was related to issues such as blocked and silted drains, but it’s clear that urgent investment is needed in our flood local defence infrastructure.

Now, the Minister will be aware that I have written to her asking for an overall review of flood alleviation measures in Taff Ely. But, will you confirm that the necessary flood prevention work identified to date will proceed and without delay? Can you also outline the steps that the Welsh Government is taking, in conjunction with other bodies, to ensure that, this winter, we will have done everything that we can to ensure that there is no repeat of the disastrous flooding that hit Pontypridd and Taff Ely and other parts of south Wales earlier this year?

Thank you, Mick. I think that you were the first person to alert me to the flooding last week. As I said, my sympathy goes out to everybody who was affected. You are quite right: the agencies did come together. So, the local authority, Dŵr Cymru and NRW were out there straight away. I was very grateful that everybody reacted very quickly. I know that RCT asked for pumps straight away; they got there straight away. But, it is really important that we look at the lessons learned from the February flooding. We had had some initial views. I've fed them into the new flood and coastal erosion strategy that we've launched. But I think we do need to have a look—. I am aware of your correspondence, which I've not responded to yet. I think it is really important that we look at the current assets and what more might be needed. As I mentioned in an earlier answer, we have the capital funding available. I'm ensuring that the preparatory work is fully met by Welsh Government—that the cost of it is fully met—and I'm very happy to work with every local authority and consider all the applications that come in.

I think Llyr mentioned before that we're faced with several crises at the moment, and, clearly, the climate emergency, if that tells us anything, we know that we are absolutely in the middle of that climate emergency now.

After the floods in February, people in the Rhondda received £500 from the local council, £500 from the Welsh Government, and more if they were uninsured, more if they were a business, and even more again from local fundraising efforts. What they didn't get was defences to stop this happening again. So, will you commit to providing floodgates for every home that needs one? And will you outline what financial support might be available to people who were flooded this time? And finally, Minister, do you support an independent, expert-led inquiry into what's happened and to give us some recommendations for future mitigation?

There were three questions there. Again, we need to look at what the assessment is, what's needed in our flood defences. So, floodgates for every property—that hasn't crossed my desk yet, but if that came forward it's something that we could assess.

You referred to the £500 from Welsh Government that was given to residents back in February, and that's certainly something that we're looking at at the current time, following the flooding last week.

I think it's important that we let all the investigations come forward. They can be done much quicker than an independent inquiry, and that's what I'm waiting for.

Finally, David Melding.

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Minister, the topography of the Glamorgan and Gwent valleys has always made them highly susceptible to flooding, often flash flooding, and the planning system, therefore, is very, very important in building up resilience. Some of the traditional methods used in other parts of the country, like bunding, are not practical. We've really got to think about how we manage these very fast moving water courses. To date, we're hearing again very, very old stories about culverts blocking and debris in river courses. This has to be constantly looked at and repaired and maintained.

Thank you. I probably should have said at some point, around last week's flooding, that the initial reports I got weren't that culverts were blocked; it was the sheer intensity of the rainfall. It was a huge amount of rainfall in a very, very short time—I think 21mm within about 20 minutes. So, I think the initial reports—. But, obviously, we need to see if there were culverts blocked on this occasion also.

I think we do need to look at natural flood management schemes, because that could help reduce the rapid run-off in urban areas. So, again, we're providing 100 per cent funding for that preparatory work. But this is an area that Welsh Government have had a huge focus on, and there's been a significant amount of funding come forward for flood alleviation schemes over the term of this Government.

Thank you, Minister. We will now break for lunch.

We will reconvene at 2 o'clock—a shorter lunch break than envisaged due to my generosity in calling as many of you, as Members, as possible. So, we'll reconvene at 2 p.m.

Plenary was suspended at 13:19.

The Senedd reconvened at 14:00, with the Deputy Presiding Officer (Ann Jones) in the Chair.

Welcome back to the Plenary.