The next item, therefore, is the statement by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change on the flood and coastal erosion risk management 2022-23 programme of investment. I call on the Deputy Minister to make the statement—Lee Waters.

Diolch yn fawr iawn. Following the Senedd’s approval of the Welsh Government’s budget, I am confirming today the flood programme for this year. The funding package will deliver a record increase in investment for flood and coastal erosion risk management and mitigation in 2022-23 and, over the course of this Senedd term, meeting our commitment and as set out in the co-operation agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru. This comes on top of a level of funding in the current year that was already the most generous in the devolution era, and we are extending it further. This next year will see the highest level of funding ever provided to date for flood risk and coastal erosion risk management.

Investment in this area has never been so important. Just last month, we were reminded of this as three successive major storms swept across Wales, impacting many communities. Fortunately, the damage and disruption to infrastructure was not as great as it could have been or that we feared it might be. But, it did flood at least 65 properties, which was a hugely traumatic and stressful experience for the individuals and families involved. I am grateful for the huge contribution from staff in local authorities, Natural Resources Wales, water companies, emergency services and community flood wardens, who play their role in protecting our communities in responding to and delivering measures to reduce flood risk. I'm pleased that our investment helped to reduce flood risk to over 950 homes and businesses across Wales, with a further 3,600 benefiting from enhancements to existing schemes and maintenance work.

Looking ahead to 2022-23, I'm pleased that we can announce our largest ever flood programme, totalling over £71 million next year. The three-year allocation, an important commitment, of over £214 million will help develop a stronger pipeline of future flood schemes and will enable, crucially, better forward planning. We have asked risk management authorities to continue to work with us to accelerate delivery to secure and raise the level of protection from flooding across Wales.

As part of our commitment to increase funding, the Welsh Government will increase by £24 million revenue funding over the next three years also. This will enable a doubling, to £225,000 per authority, of revenue funding to local government in this coming financial year. At the same time, we are increasing NRW’s revenue budget by £1.5 million, and we'll do further work with our delivery partners to understand future funding needs. The increased funding reflects the activities already being delivered in line with our national strategy, our programme for government and co-operation agreement commitments.

I've extended the national coastal risk management programme by one final year. It's now imperative, Llywydd, that local authorities take advantage of this final extension to complete work on the design of remaining schemes and to ensure construction commences, for example, at Aberaeron, Prestatyn central and Hirael bay in Bangor before the end of March 2023. This programme is the principal mechanism for addressing our coastal erosion management objectives, for tackling the challenges set out in the shoreline management plans, and investing to ensure coastal communities remain resilient in the longer term. Earlier this month, Denbighshire County Council confirmed the completion of the £27 million east Rhyl coastal scheme in Denbighshire, funded through our programme, which is now benefiting around 1,650 properties. And yesterday, my colleague Julie James visited the Aberavon coastal scheme, and, of course, we look forward to visiting schemes right across Wales over the coming year as they near completion.

Turning to capital funding, we can look forward to a strong investment programme amounting to £34 million. We have today published details of all schemes, along with an interactive map for the public and Members to view the associated details. Funding's been made available for works to design and develop future schemes as well as to construct new assets. Some of the schemes in the programme for construction include works at Treorchy, Dinas Powys and Glynneath. Through our overall investment, including the flood programme, we will benefit at least 14,600 properties this year. But, capital funding is not just about building new assets ; it also includes activities to maintain existing assets, develop new schemes, and mapping and modelling projects to better understand and communicate flood risk. Our funding will support development work on a further 86 schemes that will feed into future programmes.

Next year, we will maintain 100 per cent grant funding for all preparatory work towards new schemes. Only at construction stage will 15 per cent match funding be required from local authorities and to support in minimising this match funding. So, I encourage them to seek partnership funding contributions where wider benefits are identified.

We will also be continuing with the popular small-scale works grant and have increased the threshold of individual projects under this grant to £200,000, and we've allocated £3.8 million to local authorities to support schemes right across Wales, benefiting over 2,100 properties.

Finally, Llywydd, the natural flood management programme continues into its final year. This programme will help us understand natural flood management and how we can best deliver these types of schemes to contribute towards our commitment to deliver nature-based flood management. The £3 million programme contains 15 projects that seek to benefit over 1,100 properties, whilst providing wider benefits, such as improved water quality and biodiversity.

Our national flood strategy sets out how we're improving the way we work together to reduce risk and provides clear direction for delivering our long-term objectives. And the record levels of investment we're announcing today reflect the importance this Government places on flood risk management, as we face the challenges of climate change and work together to adapt and prepare communities for the future. Diolch.

Thank you, Deputy Minister. This is, for me, a positive statement. It is welcome news that £214 million will be invested in flood and coastal erosion schemes over the next three years, with £71 million to be invested during the next financial year. Whilst there's mention of this being part of your co-operation agreement, I think it's fair to say that the Welsh Conservatives have been calling for extra funding and better management as regards flooding and coastal sea defences since 2016. You have informed us that the funding will be used to help improve forward planning, and those, to me, were the two key words of your statement. Because, too often, I'm afraid the approach by Welsh Government has been on a reactive basis rather than proactive. So, I am really welcoming the fact that you now look forward to working with risk management authorities to accelerate delivery and support for the people of Wales.

During the inquiry we held into the Welsh Government's response to the February 2020 flooding, the committee report published highlighted that the level of revenue funding meant that authorities were a long way away from being fully prepared and resilient. Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council received just under 5 per cent of the national revenue funding, despite having an estimated 21 per cent of the national surface water flood risk to manage.

Now, last week, you clarified that the allocation of future years' revenue, based on current or future flood and coastal erosion risk, is something that you would consider. So, I have a few questions, but I will just say to you I did welcome your announcement that you're going to come round some of the schemes, because we have three schemes here in my constituency: Llanfairfechan, which has had immense storm damage to the promenade; Penrhyn bay, a new sea defence alleviation scheme; and, finally, Llandudno, where, in 2014, your Government rather inadvertently gave us a sea defence scheme that basically was inadequate, removing our sand, putting thousands of tonnes of boulders there. You were up here at the weekend, and I think you will agree—. There is a bid in with you, and the people of Llandudno, all the politicians, we want to see sand restored to our beach. So, I certainly look forward to you visiting some schemes in the constituency here in Aberconwy.

My first question is: bearing in mind that the Minister for Finance and Local Government was unable to answer my question last week, would you clarify to the Senedd why revenue allocation still does not take into account flood risk, despite our clear committee recommendation? Question 2: will you clarify whether the confirmed flood revenue allocations of £222,000 for local authorities will be split equally between each authority? Your press release highlights the programme for government as evidence that you are focused on delivering outcomes that help improve the resilience of our communities. So, basically, why does this Welsh Government continue to disagree with around 6,000 people who signed a petition urging the Welsh Government to initiate a full, independent, open and public inquiry into the 2020 flooding of homes and businesses across Rhondda Cynon Taf?

I think you're aware, Deputy Minister, as is the Minister, of my concerns about the time that it takes for section 19 reports, and they have really been the only thing available for communities when they've suffered a bad flooding incident. Some have had to wait—local authorities have had to wait—eight months for the report, and certainly, here in Llanrwst and Pentref, 17 months. That's a long time after people have seen their homes and their communities devastated by flooding. Will you commit, as a matter of urgency, to tackling the delays in the compilation and publication of section 19 reports so that flood mitigation measures are identified sooner? I'm sure you will agree with me some of the good work that's been done on our uplands—. Certainly, here in Aberconwy we've been working with the National Trust and Natural Resources Wales in terms of sorting out the peat boglands so that there's greater water capture and holding up in our uplands to avoid severe flooding incidents in villages like Llanrwst.

Finally, I note that you are claiming to increase NRW's budget by £1.5 million, yet NRW themselves have estimated that enforcing the nitrate vulnerable zones or the Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021 will require well over 200 extra staff. How will you look at restructuring NRW as part of that, because I think you would agree with me, Deputy Minister, it's not just down to money? I think I've given you enough questions there, and I really would appreciate your acknowledgement and responses to those questions, and thank you again for your statement. Diolch, Llywydd.

Well, Llywydd, let the record show that, at 14:53 on 15 March 2022, Janet Finch-Saunders welcomed action by the Welsh Government and thanked us for what we're doing. It is a proud day that'll live in the record books for some time to come, and I appreciate that acknowledgement.

Many of the questions she raised, I think, were answered by my statement, but I'd just like to address a couple of the others. The development of schemes is the responsibility of flood risk management authorities—it is their statutory function. The Welsh Government funds proposals based on expert analysis, and that is based on how it mitigates flood management, and I'm sure Janet Finch-Saunders, as somebody who is a landlord in Llandudno, has a keen interest in seeing sand there, but that is not a primary consideration when it comes to designing flood mitigation, and we rely not on political preferences, but on an expert assessment of what will reduce flood risk, and that's how schemes are judged. We want more authorities to put forward schemes that we can judge and then put in our pipeline and deliver. The point she made about section 19 investigations is something, as she'll know, that is captured by our partnership agreement with Plaid Cymru and that we are discussing with the designated Member and will make an announcement on when we have agreement on how to take that forward. But we are committed to doing that.

I think the point to make on the broader comments is that we have a significant programme of work in this scheme to tackle the growing problem that we know climate change presents to us, and she mentions the scheme in her constituency, which is a vulnerable area on the coast, as is so much of Wales. And the need for us to join the dots here—. I'd say to Members on the Conservative benches, we're talking about dealing with the impact of climate change here, but we also have to deal with the causes of climate change. It's no good on the one hand coming to the Chamber with a list of the consequences of climate change without also being willing to stop making climate change worse, and I think they need to reflect on a bit of join-up in their policy thinking. 

I would like to welcome the planned investments, Minister, in flood risk management, and thank you very much for the statement. The three-year capital budget will certainly support communities through the delivery of vital flood defences that are so needed, and, of course, the funding will come alongside a vital revenue budget, as has already been set out. This wouldn't have been possible without the collaborative work between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government, and, as has been said already during this statement and the discussions already, the co-operation agreement has also meant that we've managed to secure commitments to commission independent review of section 19 and NRW reports into extreme flooding in the winter of 2020-21, and, of course, to act on those recommendations. So this, we know, is part of an ongoing project of work here.

Now, let's look to the future here, Minister. In winter, rainfall is expected to increase by something like 6 per cent by the 2050s and between 7 per cent and 13 per cent by the 2080s from a 1981 to 2000 baseline. Obviously, a lot of that depends on global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and I know that when we talk about things in 2050 and 2080 it seems like a really long way away, but we're talking about things that will be within our lifetimes, and climate change is going to get worse in those lifetimes—certainly, as well, in the lifetimes of so many people in Wales and people yet to be born. More areas will be affected more extremely by worse flooding; people will begin to worry when it starts to rain—worry about their homes, their businesses, their communities that could be devastated by floodwater. I'd like to know, please, how the Welsh Government will ensure that the areas projected to be most affected by future flooding will be forewarned when flooding will occur. Is there anything further that you'd like to say in terms of the need to scale up early warning systems for communities put at risk of floods, particularly not just looking at rainfall but associated risks, like with coal tips and coal slips? 

Looking at the proposed capital investment, while hard flood defences like flood defence walls are, of course, completely necessary, not just to protect properties but communities, it has already come up, Minister, that there isn't enough emphasis, perhaps, on restoring nature. I know that Janet Finch-Saunders had brought this up as well, and I recognise that you've already acknowledged this, but if we're talking about peatlands, salt marshes, tree planting, reintroducing beavers, increasing green spaces, water storage in urban areas, is there anything further that you'd like to say, Minister, in terms of plans to scale up the amount of natural flood management that is taking place, given the benefits that would derive from these natural methods?

Finally, the Welsh Government is spending record amounts, of course, on flood defences, but more also needs to be done to help vulnerable, at-risk households to make their homes more flood resilient and ensure they're adequately insured so that they can recover from a flood. The reality is that poorer households are less able to invest in their properties, both to make them flood resistant and also flood resilient, when we're talking about floodgates or making them easier to clean out and clear and dry out. Some are less able to respond when flooding occurs because, maybe, they are disabled or they're frail because of age or illness, and many aren't able to bounce back after they've been hit by flooding. UK-wide figures suggest around 50 per cent of all renters may not have home contents insurance. That rises to 61 per cent of low-income renters. So, Minister, I'd like to know a little bit more detail, please, about what measures the Welsh Government is taking to ensure that more homes, particularly low-income homes in high-risk-of-flooding areas, can be made more flood resistant and resilient and what the Welsh Government is doing to reduce the cost burden of insurance on those households, please.

Thank you. A number of questions there, and I did acknowledge in my statement the role that the co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru has played in today's announcement. As you know, there were two areas in the agreement related to flood. First of all, a flood review, which I mentioned in my previous answer that we are making progress on. And the second was in flood capital investment and national resilience, to invest more in flood management and mitigation and plan to respond to the increased risk of flooding, and then secondly to ask the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales to assess how the nationwide likelihood of flooding of homes, businesses and infrastructure can be minimised by 2050, and that is also under way. We are re-jigging the national infrastructure commission. As I think Members know, we have appointed a new chair in Gareth Clubb. We are refreshing the membership and we are refocusing the terms of reference towards its role in net-zero planning. And as part of that we are asking them to look, as agreed in the co-operation agreement, at flood mitigation and minimisation. So, I'm pleased to confirm that, and thank Plaid Cymru for their co-operation on that. I think that is an important piece of joint working. Where we agree, it makes sense that we act together, and I personally very warmly welcome that.

On the question of early warning systems, I think digital early warning systems are essential, and this is true across the piece. I was at the Low Carbon Agriculture Show at Stoneleigh last week with the National Farmers Union looking at a whole range of precision agriculture interventions that can help us deal with the risks of climate change as well as improving on-farm productivity and warning systems, and greater use of agri-tech is a no-brainer, frankly.

And also, in terms of the specific point on coal-tip safety, then the use of digital early warning systems is part of the taskforce that the First Minister has established. And similarly, the point on natural flood management is already under way. Today's announcement includes £3 million for that. But we also have other schemes, like the Local Places for Nature scheme, and also the tree-planting initiative that was mentioned. Properly, the right tree in the right place can support local flood mitigation, whether at scale on farms or on streets in communities, and I think that is a really important part of our tree-planting approach, and mainstreaming natural flood management into everything that we do.

I hope I've covered the main points there. Thank you.

The Deputy Presiding Officer (David Rees) took the Chair.

Can I, first of all, Deputy Minister, thank you for your statement today? North Powys, in my own constituency, experienced significant flooding, of course. Last month, I think in three days, 150 mm of water fell—50 per cent just on one day alone, on Sunday 20 February—on already saturated ground, so we had there some, sadly, record-breaking levels in rivers, and many communities suffering, of course, in Llandinam, Pool Quay and Llandrinio. For many, flooding incidents had occurred twice in recent years, so there's all the upset, of course, that comes along with those that have their homes flooded.

When I've outlined—. I'm very pleased that you've outlined the additional funding today, but I would question how NRW is structured and is structured appropriately to deliver. I'm afraid I've had some very inadequate responses, as have county councillors in my own constituency, from NRW. Issues have been raised, particularly in Llandrinio and Llandinam, for years, and commitments made by NRW staff. I appreciate I haven't got the time to go into the detail—I'm happy to write to you—but commitments are made, years later we have another flooding incident, and what happens? NRW say they're going to come out and do a survey. We don't need a survey when surveys have already been done previously, and there's huge frustration. I'm trying to get an assessment here from you, Minister, whether it's a lack of resource or whether NRW's not structured sufficiently to deliver.

You need to ask a question now.

Yes, and if I can ask—. Finally, then, Minister, if I can ask you, in regards to those frustrations from communities—. Can I ask you to particularly look at flood warnings as well? Because the NRW website does not seem to be working appropriately. I think, on their own admission, gauges aren't working properly. One of their main functions is of course to warn communities of flooding incidents, and it does seem that there are other benefits the other side of the border in Shropshire, where the Environment Agency website is working a lot more efficiently, it seems to be, than NRW's website, where many gauges are not working correctly, and of course that is one of their main functions. So, will extra resource go into the warning mechanisms as well as part of NRW's functions?

Well, I think it's only honest to admit that, clearly, resources are constrained. We're not able to do all the things that we want to do, and in some cases need to do, right across the Government. That is the nature of being in Government, and the funding settlements we've had aren't what we'd like them to be. The funding for the Welsh Government has not kept up with the growth in the economy. It's a point we've made time and time again, and Conservatives can't just dismiss the impact of austerity. This is the practical manifestation of that suppressed funding over more than a decade, and I think it's only fair to point that out.

Now, in terms specifically of NRW, we ask an awful lot of NRW, and I think they've done an outstanding job in the recent floods, and they always respond extremely well in a crisis. In terms of their day-to-day functions, there is a lot for them to do, and the resource isn't always there for them to do everything they want to do to the level that they want to do it. That is a consequence of the general funding settlement. We've increased funding for NRW in today's announcement, and I'd be very happy to look further at the points in detail that Russell George pointed out. Sometimes it's the case, as we discovered on the tree planting, for example, just to use that as an example of the broader point—. In the deep dive that we conducted last summer, we looked at the way NRW used their resource, and in that case there were something like 82 members of staff who part of their job was looking at assessment of tree-planting schemes. So, it's not that they didn't have resource, but they were directed, in my view, in the wrong way—they were directed at putting barriers up rather than pulling barriers down. So, sometimes it is a case of looking at the resource there is and being clear about what we're asking them to do. We are having a very good and healthy dialogue with the leadership of NRW, reviewing a number of key areas of performance, to make sure that the systems are right for the job at hand. But, on the specific points, I'd be very happy to take it up by correspondence. 

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I welcome very much today’s announcement, which stems from the agreement between our parties. Until you see the impact of flooding on homes and communities I think it's impossible to comprehend the impact, not just in the immediate aftermath but in the long term, over decades and years. The trauma is ongoing, and people still cry when I meet them when they describe what they have been through.

In the statement, you refer, Deputy Minister, to the additional funding allocated to the Natural Resources Wales budget, particularly in terms of revenue. But can you please confirm whether this has been earmarked entirely to deal with flooding, and to what extent will this improve the situation with regard to the number of staff that Natural Resources Wales have involved in tackling flooding? After all, the Natural Resources Wales report on the 2020 floods noted the following: 

'It is roughly estimated that 60-70 additional members of staff are needed over the long term to sustain the overall service and to address the actions set out in our flood review.'

Will this be corrected as a result of the statement?

Well, as we've said, we've increased the level of funding for NRW, and how it is spent in detail is a matter for them and a matter for dialogue with us. I'm not able to say any more than that today, but clearly it is a key question, and I acknowledge that. I absolutely recognise her point about the trauma and distress caused by flooding. I saw some of it myself in Pontypridd two years ago now, and I met with many of the people who were affected and could see the real upset that it had caused there, and the stress. And we want to avoid that. We know from the scientists that this is going to become a more regular occurrence. We are going to have wilder and wetter winters, we are having greater rainfall, and that is a consequence of the climate emissions, the carbon emissions that have already been emitted into the atmosphere. That's baked in, and we have to adapt our infrastructure and our systems to deal with that, and people in areas of risk have to learn to live with the risk and manage the risk. We can't magic it away. But equally important is that we stop it getting any worse, and our commitment to net zero needs to be redoubled and reminders given to people, because there are voices during this crisis who are simply saying that we need to set aside many of the things we've committed to doing around renewable energy or, indeed, around tree planting. They're simply saying we should respond to the crisis in a short-termist way, a knee-jerk way, to go back to doing the things we've done. There are certainly voices on the right calling for us to embrace fracking, and I think it's really important that we remember we're talking about, today, the impact of climate change. That's not going to go away, it's going to get worse, and we must not lose our nerve in a very difficult situation and remember we are facing multiple crises, and the climate crisis also has to be dealt with.

As the Deputy Minister will know, I've got personal experience of flooding, having lived through the Towyn floods all those years ago, and it's absolutely devastating. We must do what we can to prevent people's homes from being flooded. I was very pleased to see in the list of financial commitments many references to areas in my own constituency, including the Towyn and Kinmel Bay area. One of the concerns that has been raised with me by local residents in that community is the fact that the Welsh Government has put on hold its new technical advice note 15 requirements, which would ensure that any new defences built in Towyn and Kinmel Bay would be more robust than those that are currently being proposed by the local authority. What assurances can you give to my constituents that any investment from the Welsh Government will be to the new TAN 15 protection levels and not to the old ones, which frankly aren't good enough?

Well, we are committed to implementing TAN 15, just to be clear about that. We have agreed to a delay of 18 months before it and the flood map for planning become operational because of concerns about the practical implementation by local authorities. And the crucial thing here is to get this right, and this does involve quite a significant change to many of the assumptions local authorities and planning authorities have made about what development is possible and what is viable, and that is putting under threat a number of schemes that are important for other policy priorities. And this is the tension we have: how do we marry these different pressures? So, that's the process we're going through now, working with local authorities, and I can assure your constituents that we've delayed it, I think for sensible public policy reasons, but we're not avoiding the challenge it faces. And the follow-on consequences for that are something all of us are going to have to get used to, because it does mean doing things differently, and that is not going to be easy.

Thank you, Deputy Minister, for this statement. The additional investment is certainly to be warmly welcomed, and I look forward to seeing the work in Barmouth, Fairbourne, Morfa Nefyn and Pencaenewydd. I want to draw one other issue to the Deputy Minister's attention, if I may. The community council in Arthog, which includes the area of Fairbourne, has received an independent report by Dr Graham Hall, who is an expert in flooding, and it was independently reviewed by Dr Veronica Edmonds-Brown from the University of Hertfordshire. And it notes that the west of Wales shoreline management plan is based on work done 10 years ago. Now, since then, of course, a great deal of work has been done on coastal flood defences, which changes the forecast for communities such as Fairbourne, but the plans haven't changed to reflect this work. In addition to this, it notes that it's run-off from the mountains that is most likely to affect that community, not an increase in sea level, and there is room to doubt the modelling of Natural Resources Wales, which is based on inadequate data and old software. Will you ask Natural Resources Wales to review the west of Wales shoreline management plan in order to take the report of Graham Hall and the review by Veronica Edmonds-Brown into consideration, please?

Thank you. Yes, and we are aware of the report. We've seen the report and our technical team have been analysing it. It's a matter for the local authority, as the responsible body here, and I understand that Gwynedd are also considering the report, or have seen it, and I think they in the first instance need to discuss that with the authors to make sure that there's a common understanding of the basis of the evidence. And then, if there are implications coming from that, we'll obviously consider them.

And finally, Samuel Kurtz.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I thank the Deputy Minister today for his statement. 

Thank you, Deputy Minister, but you'll be aware that there are several locations within my constituency of Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire that are subject to erosion, both coastal and flooding, and I've previously raised my frustrations that Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales appear to be passing the buck between each other as to who is responsible for progressing a flood prevention scheme to protect businesses along the river Tywi's quay in Carmarthen. And whilst it's right that we protect people's homes, businesses are vital to the local economy and should not be forgotten by the Government. Therefore, given the increase in funding now available to Welsh Government agencies, I'd be grateful if you could, Deputy Minister, explain what actions the Government is taking to protect local businesses, such as those along Carmarthen's quay, as well as people's homes. Diolch.

On the confusion of responsibilities, I think there is an issue here in that there are overlapping responsibilities and there isn't always clarity, and that is one of the things I think the section 19 review that we agreed with Plaid Cymru as part of the co-operation agreement will look at, because that certainly was a factor in the Rhondda Cynon Taf incident. And I think through analysing all the different section 19 and NRW reports, we can look to see whether or not that is an issue that needs to be examined further. So, I think that's going to be a very helpful outcome of that process.

In terms of the specific issue of the Carmarthen quay, we've had applications for protecting businesses, whereas our funding guidelines are very clear that our priority must be protecting homes. And where schemes have got multiple benefits, clearly that is a bonus, but we do need to prioritise and the local authorities need to work with us to design schemes that can achieve as many objectives as possible.

I thank the Deputy Minister.