3. Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management, 2022-23 Programme of Investment

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:10 pm on 15 March 2022.

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Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 3:10, 15 March 2022

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.