I rise to support the sentiments of the petition, because I do think it's really important that the lessons-learned exercise is complete and does take in all the aspects that residents, businesses and everyone affected by these terrible floods in February 2020 and other flooding incidents that followed it are learnt, because the scale of the flooding was beyond recognition. I can well remember visiting various areas and just seeing the total devastation, whether it be domestic properties, whether it be businesses, or whether is just be the allotments that you can see off the A48 in the Pontypridd constituency, just completely washed away, showing the force of the water and the extent of the damage. And it's not just water when flooding hits those residential properties; it's this raw sewage that comes up through the drains and completely devastates the properties beyond habitable use until they're rectified and put back to good measure.

Obviously, what we have here are many public sector organisations who did their best; without a shadow of a doubt, they did try their best in the aftermath to do what they could to help the communities that were affected, whether that be in the Rhondda or any other part of South Wales Central, but there are lessons to be learnt here. The warning system, as we know from some of the early indications from NRW, failed in many instances, and if you can't get the basic warning system right, what hope have you got of making sure that the more structural changes that you need to make to flood prevention measures are put in place, such as cleaning the culverts out and making sure the waterways are clear? These are some of the basic things that used to go on by the river boards and agencies that used to exist some 20, 30 years ago, which were taken for granted at the time, and allowed water to flow relatively freely.

It is a fact that we are going to see more incidents like this. It is a fact that since time immemorial there have been flooding events, but many of the communities that were affected by the events in February and other events through 2020 have maybe never even seen flooding before. So, there are some administrative issues that need to be checked, there is a follow-through exercise, and only an inquiry will get to the bottom of those issues, which has the power of Government to create that inquiry, and probe and pull together those public bodies from the local authorities, the health boards, NRW and the economic impact in particular in those communities where businesses were so devastated, as well as the domestic living conditions wiped away from many individuals and families. We can all remember the image of the landslide that happened, and there's much work to still do in that particular area, and that's where the two Governments, the Westminster Government and the Welsh Government, need to be working together to address that particular issue.

So, that's why I rise to support the call for a public inquiry, because I do think it is only through a public inquiry, and the weight of the report of that public inquiry, that we can make the changes that will be required, we can reflect on what did work, but invariably we can reflect and remedy the things that didn't work. So, I do hope that the Government will be more positive, rather than just saying they're still waiting for various administrative reports to come in from all the various organisations that are marking their own homework. That will not be good enough for the residents I represent in South Wales Central, and I do call on the Government to act more positively in response to this request from the petition today.