Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:23 pm on 23 March 2022.
The NRW review of the floods in February 2020 noted that around 60 or 70 staff were required above the baseline staff numbers that they had at that time to ensure sustainable and long-term improvements to the flood management service. Now, the Government, to be fair, provided that funding on a temporary basis. I raised with the First Minister a few months ago that it would be unwise not to continue with that funding because the posts had been funded, and he agreed that it would be sensible to continue with that funding. Now, I'm aware that the review is currently taking place between the Government and NRW on their funding at present, but I just want to draw attention to a report that has been published by the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee today, as it happens, following our annual scrutiny of NRW, which does point to the committee's view that funding NRW should be proportionate to its roles and its responsibilities, and, of course, thanks to Heledd, flooding is one clear example of that, and we very much hope that the Government will meet that need following the funding review that they are currently holding.