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.