The first of the section 19 reports prepared by Rhondda Cynon Taf council into the 2020 floods was published last Thursday and related to Pentre. In the aftermath of its publication, we've seen a public fallout between Natural Resources Wales and RCT council about the conclusions, and calls from some local politicians for compensation and potential legal action. Further, as was reported on Sharp End last night, the leader of the Welsh Local Government Association has written to the Minister for Climate Change, calling on Welsh Government to look at the functions undertaken by NRW, how well they are performing, and whether there might be an alternative. For those who were flooded in Pentre, this public fallout has provided none of the assurances they were promised.

In light of this, and in light of the letter from the WLGA, I would like to request an urgent statement from the Minister for Climate Change, outlining how the Welsh Government intends to address the concerns raised in relation to NRW. I also hope such a statement can reflect on whether the Welsh Government will now commission an urgent independent inquiry into the 2020 floods, looking at all of the reports prepared by each organisation, so that lessons are properly learned and actions taken to mitigate the risk of flooding as far as possible in the future. There must be proper scrutiny of every organisation with responsibility for flood mitigation, which include NRW, Dŵr Cymru, Welsh Government and local authorities. This is not happening at present and needs to be urgently addressed.