Item 6 this afternoon is a statement by the Minister for Climate Change on reducing vulnerability to flood risk and the independent review of the 2020-21 flooding. I call on the Minister, Julie James.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. The First Minister, the Deputy Minister and I have made clear that addressing flood risk is a priority for this Government. We have put in place, through the flood strategy, a comprehensive programme that sets out our long-term measures for reducing flood risk across Wales. The co-operation agreement commits us to deliver an increase in investment for flood and coastal erosion risk management and mitigation over the course of this Senedd term as well.

We announced recently the largest ever package of investment to reduce flood risk across Wales, with over £71 million of funding being provided by the Welsh Government this year. We intend to invest over £214 million over the next three years to help protect at least 45,000 homes from flood risk. This package of support represents a renewed strategic approach to provide the necessary financial support to our flood risk management authorities, while accelerating delivery and building our resilience to climate change with a stronger pipeline of flood schemes.

That notwithstanding, it is vital that we do everything that we can to learn from past events, so that we can improve our approach to tackling flood risk. The devastating floods in February 2020, which created widespread trauma, hardship and financial loss for thousands of families and scores of businesses across Wales, were a stark reminder of the scale of the challenges that we face, particularly against the backdrop of climate change, the impacts of which we are already clearly experiencing.

The Llywydd took the Chair.

Over the last few months, Plaid Cymru designated Member Siân Gwenllian and I have been working closely to develop the scope, approach to delivery and draft terms of reference for securing the co-operation agreement commitment to commission an independent review of local government section 19 reports and Natural Resources Wales reports into extreme flooding in the winter of 2020-21. So, I am pleased to announce today that Professor Elwen Evans QC has agreed to lead this review. Professor Evans is one of the UK's leading criminal barristers. She led the prosecution in the April Jones murder case and the defence team in the Gleision mine disaster case. Having recently led the independent review of the Mayhill riots last year, Professor Evans brings substantial experience and authority to this review, and I am delighted that she has agreed to lead it.

Section 19 investigations are an integral part of Wales's flood risk management framework, mandating local authorities to assess the causes of significant events of flooding and enabling them to provide data models, improve maintenance regimes or identify alleviation works or measures. There is no statutory time frame for undertaking or completing section 19 investigations, but our flood strategy makes clear that they should be proportionate to the scale of flooding and take account of the understanding of the issues or the type of remediation measure needed. Professor Evans's review will consider all the available evidence provided in the section 19 reports and NRW's own review into the flooding during 2020-21, and its impacts and how this might inform priorities for flood risk management in the future. The review will focus on assessing and prioritising the recommendations made in the different reports and will identify recommendations for action by the relevant organisations.

In particular, Professor Evans’s review will consider key findings, shared concerns, identify areas for improvement and good practice, successes and lessons learned. The review will build on previous reviews, look at other relevant reports, Senedd committee findings and national policy, such as the Wales flood strategy, making best use of resources and maximising value for money. The designated Member and I have asked Professor Evans to consider the support required to undertake the review and the timescales for delivery. We are going to allow Professor Evans sufficient time to gather and assess the available evidence before she comes to a conclusion about how long the review will take, so that it can offer a meaningful and robust conclusion. I look forward to receiving the findings of the review so the designated Member and I can consider how best to act on its recommendations.

The effects of climate change mean that the pressure on our existing infrastructure will increase significantly. With that in mind, work is also in hand to progress the other co-operation agreement objective in relation to flooding—the commitment to invite the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales to assess how the nationwide likelihood of flooding of homes, businesses and infrastructure can be minimised by 2050. In his recent remit letter, the Deputy Minister for Climate Change asked Dr David Clubb, chair of the NICW, to take forward this commitment. NICW's work programme is now being finalised. The designated Member and I will be discussing this further to help inform the scope and focus of the NICW review. A public appointments process to appoint NICW commission members is now under way, and we will be making a further announcement in the next few weeks. In parallel, Wales's independent flood and coastal erosion committee, chaired by Martin Buckle, is taking forward two separate reviews prescribed by our flood strategy. The first, which is nearing completion, has explored the financial resources available to flood risk management authorities to help maximise access to funding and investment opportunities to support flood delivery. I anticipate the committee's final report will be submitted in June.

In reflecting on the devastating flood impacts across Wales in early 2020, the flood strategy recognised that while there is a robust legislative framework, the understanding of the roles and responsibilities of different bodies are not entirely straightforward for the public. The second review being undertaken by the flood committee is focused on assessing the scope of current flood risk management responsibilities and the need for legislative changes. The committee will be embarking on a consultation on its draft report in June, with the final report being submitted to the Welsh Government this autumn. These reviews form a part of the Welsh Government's response in adapting to increasing flood and water-related risks arising from climate change. They will complement our investment programmes, new planning guidance on flooding, initiatives to enhance sustainable drainage systems and nature-based solutions, in addition to the legislative reforms we are bringing forward to improve coal tip safety. 

The impacts of climate change are already being felt across our society and the natural environment, and we can expect risks to increase in the decades ahead, even as we work to cut our emissions and limit further global warming. In addition to the increasing flood risk, we can also expect greater impacts from storms, heatwaves, drought and wildfires. Our response to flood risk is part of our holistic approach to build resilience to the far-reaching impacts of climate change across all communities and sectors. At the same time, we are determined to ensure fairness, both in terms of how the impacts of climate change itself are felt across society and the globe, and in terms of the burden of measures we take to address it.

This Government and Plaid Cymru are working together in the best interest of our communities to learn from the past, make changes where these are necessary and develop good practices. The outcome of the reviews we're announcing today will enable us to improve on how we deliver flood protection to reduce flood risk for everyone in Wales. Diolch.

I thank the Minister again for her statement. We know that communities across Wales from the Conwy valley to Rhondda Cynon Taf have made abundantly clear, over the times that they've seen shocking flooding incidents, that they want to see independent inquiries undertaken. Indeed, a petition raised in 2020 called for an independent inquiry into the flooding in Rhondda Cynon Taf, and despite there being around 6,000 signatures, the Welsh Government have simply refused to co-operate. Similarly, calls for an inquiry into flooding in the Conwy valley have been blocked previously by this Welsh Labour Government. I can remind the Minister of me raising concerns about flooding incidents in the Conwy valley. From 2016, we had several serious flooding issues, and at the time, we were calling for independent inquiries to be undertaken. Much was given at that time about how well section 19 reports were actually helping to inform Welsh Government, local authorities and our communities about why these incidents kept repeating.

I think one of the things you still seem to recognise in your statement is that section 19 investigations are an integral part of Wales's flood risk management, but there's no statutory time frame for undertaking or completing section 19 investigations. I know from flooding in my own constituency—. I think one incident saw about 60 to 70 homes really devastated, and it can take up to two years for the results, the responses to those section 19s. So, I do hope, now that Professor Evans is reviewing section 19 reports, that one of the fundamentals to come out of that will be that that is far too long a time frame, and that these things should be as quickly turned round as possible.

Plaid Cymru have been vocal in their support of independent inquiries in both the Conwy valley and Rhondda, so it will be interesting to know what their views are now. The co-operation deal does not promise proper inquiries, only the independent review of the local government section 19s. Whilst I would be pleased if you could outline the terms of reference for the review, can you confirm that each section 19 report published following flooding in winter 2021 will be part of this review? I'm aware that the recommendations of that report have not been fully actioned and fulfilled as of yet. Do you agree that work on existing recommendations should continue whilst this review is taking place?

I was, of course, a member of the inquiry into the Welsh Government's response to the February 2020 flooding, and our report published in 2020 highlighted then that the level of revenue funding meant the authorities were a long way away from being fully prepared and resilient, and that's notwithstanding the unknown climate changes that we know will face us, but we don't know the extent. In fact, authorities receive the same level of revenue funding regardless of the flood risk within their area. So, I'd say to the Minister that we need to be doing this now where it counts. For example, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council received 4.54 per cent of the national revenue funding, despite having an estimated 21 per cent of the national surface water flood risk to manage. The committee and I were clear that the Welsh Government's approach to revenue allocation for flooding should take account of current and projected future flood risk in local authority areas.

I have a question for you, Minister. Last February you clarified that the allocation of future years' revenue based on current or future flood and/or coastal erosion risk is something you could consider. Have you decided to take projected flood risk into account? As the Climate Change, Environment, and Rural Affairs Committee explained in 2020, it is now more important than ever for the Welsh Government and its partners to have robust arrangements in place to respond to such events. But you know what my view is: we should be far more proactive and not be concentrating on reactive measures.

Some 2,298 properties in Wales, Llywydd, are at high risk of tidal flooding, 9,652 properties are at a high risk of river flooding, and 35,278 properties are at a high risk of surface flooding. In fact, there are currently over 245,000 properties, as I speak here today, at risk of flooding in Wales. With such a level of risk to manage, I do think our nation would benefit from having a body that is 100 per cent focused on flood mitigation. And rather than expect local authorities and NRW, which have diverse responsibilities, to lead on flooding—and, let's be honest, where NRW are concerned, they are seriously understaffed—do you agree that there is now some logic, Minister, in establishing a national flood agency? Thank you. Diolch.

Thank you, Janet. Just to start right where you finished, no, I don't think that at all. I think one of the things that we absolutely need to do is integrate this work, and the idea that you have a separate quango for every single bit of climate change where it stands alone and does it's own thing—I just think that's a recipe for absolute disaster, myself. So, I don't agree with that at all. I think what's really important is to have a national strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management, which is what we have, that we do that alongside all the partners that need to be engaged in that, and that's a very wide variety of partners, and that we understand what those mitigation measures look like.

It's easy to say that we need to do everything we can to mitigate these risks, but then every time we come up with a mitigation, to oppose each individual one. So, for example, surface water drainage schemes, which make a huge difference to surface water problems, have been consistently said by your party to inhibit development of housing and other construction projects. But they're absolutely essential if we're going to stop the flood risk that we have and, indeed, the flood storm risk of overflows into our precious rivers and so on. We have to accept that, if we want to have these schemes, the mitigations are not always optimal for every single sector of society and we all have to adapt to them. Likewise, we cannot continue to just build on floodplains and expect that to be perfectly fine. We have to adapt our strategies for building, living and using our planet's resources accordingly.

I'm also a little bit bemused by the start of your contribution, Janet, because you seem to be saying that we weren't having the review, when the whole point of my statement is to announce the review that you'd asked for. So, I'm a little bit confused by that. But just to say again, I'm delighted that Professor Evans is undertaking this entirely independent review. Obviously, one of the things she'll look at is whether the system is fit for purpose, how it integrates together and what the optimal outcome should be. I look forward to receiving her recommendations, alongside the Plaid Cymru designated Member, and being able to act on those recommendations accordingly. 

I'd like to welcome today's statement and thank you very much, Minister, for your statement. The increase in instances of flooding due to climate change poses a major risk to communities, individuals and to businesses in Wales. It's entirely correct and to be welcomed that the voices and experiences of those people and businesses across Wales are going to be heard, via the independent review, so that we can learn how to protect and safeguard Wales from flooding in future, to protect our most vulnerable communities and to prevent further related destructive events. 

The announcement of the name of Elwen Evans as the individual who will be leading and chairing the independent review is, I think, to be very much welcomed. Bearing in mind her extensive experience, I'm sure that she will undertake a thorough and fair review that will give some certainty to local communities. Minister, it's that certainty and that element of comfort that are the items or elements that I would like to focus on this afternoon. 

What happened during the storms of 2020 has traumatised people, and continues to do so, and they don't feel safe in their homes every time it rains heavily to this day. Without certainty regarding what lies behind these cases of flooding, and without robust solutions, this torment will continue. Progress with this review, of course, is an important step forward, but could you tell us, please, what support will be available to support the mental health of those who have suffered trauma, and the psychological impact as a result of flooding? 

Something that would provide additional reassurance would be an early warning system. Plaid Cymru has called for the development, the funding and the introduction of early warning systems so that communities can be warned about flooding and other disasters before they happen. Such systems would be a boon, and I'd ask you, please, Minister, to give us the latest information with regard to the introduction of these systems and how such systems would then be funded.

And finally, to return to the review and its remit, I am very pleased that the review, which is taking place, of course, because of the influence of Plaid Cymru, builds upon work that has already been done and provides consistency in terms of all of the recommendations that have already been made. So, could you tell us a little more about that element of the remit, please? Thank you very much. I'm sorry, I don't know what happened with the sound there, so I don't know if I cut out halfway through, but thank you.

I heard you perfectly well all the way through, certainly through the translation there, Delyth. So, thank you very much for that. Just on that last one first, we have a number of reviews going on into slightly different elements of the flood and coastal management programmes that we have in place. So, without compromising in any way Professor Evans's ability to make any recommendations that she sees fit to do, we've asked her to liaise with the other reviews and to just see where they can assist each other without duplication. But I cannot emphasise enough that that in no way inhibits any of the reviews from making the recommendations they want to make, and if they turn out to be contradictory, well, then we'll have to see what we can do to come across that. But we hope, of course, that they won't and that there'll be a cohesive programme at the end, but I thought it was more important to have the independence guaranteed than to try and make them come to some kind of mashed-together conclusions. I anticipate, though, since they're all very professional reviews, that we will have a coherent set of outcomes from those reviews that we will be able to implement.

The designated Member, Siân Gwenllian, and myself have been very clear that the review will be published. It will be Professor Evans's review, it's up to her what it says, but we will publish it and then we will respond to it. We will provide a Government response to that and a combined response to that and we will publish the response to that and then we will implement the recommendations as a result of that. So, we're very clear about that.

The review also has the opportunity to reach out to elected members in affected areas and specifically ask for comments back from that elected member. Now, I cannot emphasise enough that this is not a public inquiry, so we're not looking for evidence of that sort. But we do feel that elected members will probably be able to reflect the views and trauma experienced by the communities that suffered the floods and that the elected members will be well-placed to provide written evidence to the review of those feelings and the aftermath of that. And I'm sure that recommendations will follow. No Member should feel inhibited from proactively providing that evidence, but Professor Evans, I'm sure, will be reaching out very specifically to Members of this Senedd and of Parliament in areas that were particularly impacted, and we all know where they are; we've discussed them a lot. So, I hope that we'll be able to get some quantification of the kinds of trauma and so on, and what kind of support that the community would like to see as a result of that, Delyth. We have provided some support via the resilience fora and the flood risk management authorities, but one of the points of the review is to get to the bottom of some of those personal issues, if you like, about what happens when you don't feel safe.

In terms of the early warning systems, I don't have any problem with early warning systems. The difficulty we have is that some of the incidents of flooding across Wales—in fact, a large number of the worst ones—were as a result of sudden flash flooding caused by extreme weather events. So, I'm no expert in this, but it seems very difficult to me to understand quite how that would work. But we'll investigate it. You know that we have really good weather predictions, so we were able to get some of the floodgates and sandbagging and all that kind of thing out, but there's no doubt at all that we were taken unawares by the severity of some of the storms in 2020 and 2021, and we saw the result of that, didn't we? And we were very lucky over this last winter—I'll be superstitious a minute and touch the desk of wood, because we're not quite out of the storm season yet—that we didn't have a repeat. But that's one of the issues, isn't it, because these extreme weather events, which used to be very rare, are becoming more and more common, and that's part of the reason we need to review once more whether our resilience approach to this and our planning in advance is fit for purpose. 

And just to say one last thing, we're not waiting on the outcome of the review. The First Minister and I took part in resilience training fora for all of the resilience bodies around Wales and the blue-light responders and first responders, just to make sure, before last winter, that we were in prime position to be able to respond should we need to. So, just to reassure communities across Wales that nobody is waiting for the outcome of the review before putting those things in place.

Minister, I welcome that flood risk is a priority for Government. It's frightening and devastating, and I welcome this package of funding as well for it. Many of our old drainage systems cannot take the amount of monsoon-type rainfall we're experiencing more frequently, and roadside gullies and drainage systems need emptying more frequently. Plus, the responsibility of ditches, culverts and watercourses need mapping, so that residents know who to contact, as well as understanding what measures they themselves can take if a flood alert is in place. I remember we used to get flood alerts from NRW as well as the Met Office as a local authority, which were really useful. Following cuts in public service funding during years of austerity, we have lost the expertise that local authorities and NRW are now competing for to deal with drainage and to help residents as well. So, what's Welsh Government doing, working with public authorities, to increase the expertise and to help residents deal with these increasing flooding events? And, apologies, this might've really been a question for the local government Minister. So, thank you.

So, I work very closely with my colleague the local government Minister on these issues, and we've had many discussions with local government colleagues about resilience for it and how they work and how the flood responses—. And the local authority has blue-light responders in a number of areas that actually work.

We've obviously just had the local government elections, so the new cabinet teams will be informed, and my colleague Rebecca Evans and I will be having a series of meetings with various new cabinet members across the piece, to meet them first and welcome them to post, but also to just understand what's required in terms of training, assistance and just making those vital connections to make sure that we all work happily together. And again, my local government Minister colleague and I divide it up a little bit in terms of which groups we meet, but we do bring it all back together through the WLGA, to make sure we have a coherent programme, and obviously led by Rebecca in the overarching bit of that.

Part of the point of some of the reviews that we're having undertaken, particularly by the committee, is to see where the responsibility currently lies, and that the regulations that drive those responses are in the right place. Is it fit for purpose, do we have the right split between the Welsh Government responsibility, NRW, the water companies, local authorities? You know, is that correct? So, I'm looking forward to coming back with the outcome of that, and then to discuss how that new regime, if it is new, works, or if the outcome is that it's fit for purpose at the moment, to embed that in. So, we await the outcome of the review, really, to have a look at that, partly driven by the need to ensure that we have skilled staff in order to be able to staff that up. I don't want to prejudge the outcome of the review, but it does seem quite spread about at the moment, so I anticipate that they will make some recommendations around making sure we have those skilled staff in the right place in the right agency.

I'm grateful to you, Minister, for your statement. I recently met with a chartered surveyor representing an historic estate in south Pembrokeshire who are currently looking at plans to increase the viability of a pub, which just so happens to be situated next to a river. Part of these plans see accommodation being created in upstairs, first-floor rooms of the pub, currently used for storage, adding to the residential area currently used by the pub landlord, also on the first floor. However, the property is located on a zone C2 category floodplain, and given this, the national park has rejected the application. However, there is no increase to the footprint of the property, no residential accommodation on the ground floor, so there is no greater risk of flooding than what is there at present. Indeed, NRW saw no reason to object to the application.

I'll also take this opportunity to once again stress that businesses located along the Towy river on Carmarthen's quay have also faced frustration with a lack of priority given to protecting businesses and economic interests from flooding. Minister, both these issues demonstrate an imbalance in planning regulations, where viable and successful businesses are penalised for trying to invest and make improvements. Therefore, can I urge you to encourage planning authorities to drop the more rigid approach to implementing planning guidance and undertake a more pragmatic approach? Diolch, Llywydd.

Well, thank you, and, obviously, I can't comment on individual planning applications—I don't have all of the detail and it wouldn't be appropriate for me as the planning Minister—but I do take the point you're making. I mean, there are a number of things to consider when developing on a floodplain, which is what you're describing, of course, right next to a river. I mean, I'll take this opportunity, Llywydd, to say that I'm delighted that the First Minister has agreed to chair a summit on the phosphate and building on floodplain issue that is a real issue right across Wales, and that that summit will take place on the first day of the Royal Welsh Show in July, and he will chair that with a number of experts and stakeholders coming together in that summit, to try and find a mutually acceptable way forward that will require compromise on all sides, but we absolutely need to get to the bottom of what is a very difficult issue in very large parts of Wales. So, I take that opportunity to make that announcement, and I'm delighted that he's agreed to do that.

What we will also be doing is looking, as part of these reviews, to see whether things like what the planning guidance is for floodplain development and so on can be reviewed, whether things like not developing at the ground floor and developing above are a solution or aren't. And, to be honest, that's really complicated, it's not just about the flooding, it's also about if you put residential in there, you're putting sewage and water and so on in there, you're putting extra surface drainage and so on, even if the footprint doesn't increase, so there's a whole issue about the resilience of the systems around that, and that's what the phosphate issue is about and so on. So, I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated.

But I do understand the frustration entirely. One of the other things we're looking into—. I suspended the technical advice note 15 implementation. One of the reasons that we did that was we wanted to look again at what is the impact of flood defences when they're put in place in river catchment areas, whether they should then allow the development further downstream or not and in what circumstances, what level of flood defence do you need, what does it protect against and so on, because our major cities and conurbations across Wales and many of our thriving market towns and other settlements are built on the coast on the mouth of a river, because that's where the trade happens and so on. That poses big problems for us. We don't want, obviously, to sterilise the development of those vibrant cities, towns and settlements right across Wales, but at the same time we need to both protect them from the climate emergency and from the day-to-day hazards of flooding, and we need to protect our rivers from the phosphate and nitrate problems that we have. So, it's a really complicated problem. We are looking at various aspects of it, and I'm delighted the First Minister will be chairing that summit in the Royal Welsh.

Minister, I very much welcome this and what's been achieved through the co-operation agreement. I certainly welcome also the appointment of Professor Evans, and I look forward as an elected Member to contributing to that. I was reassured by your commitment—because, obviously, we haven't seen the terms of reference as Members yet—that the voices and experiences of those victims will be able to feed into this process. That's very welcome.

I should support Janet Finch-Saunders in terms of the independent inquiry comment she made, as I was the instigator of that petition in a different role. This is different to that petition, in being a review, but, obviously, there is much to welcome that we are now finally being able to work in collaboration to ensure that lessons are learnt to inform the future, because, after all, it's not about apportioning blame, but ensuring communities feel safe in their homes, and businesses are secure in the future.

I just wanted to ask for clarification on one matter. You've mentioned the section 19 report, and as you'll be aware not all section 19 reports have been published yet, and also, where they have been published, residents aren't necessarily content with those reports. Also, flood investigation reports are currently not required to be published, so will those also feed into this review so that those are considered so that we also consider how we are completely transparent about these reports in the future?

Yes, so all the reports, published or not, will be available to the review. The review is obviously subject to confidentiality and so on, but they will be subject to the review, absolutely. One of the things I expect to come out of the review is better guidelines about when, how and where the section 19 reports should be produced, possibly a timescale, although I don't want to prejudge it in any way, and there are issues with timescales, because I personally would like people to get it right, as well as fast. So, we'll see what the review brings, but I expect that clarity to be brought as a result of it.

There are more issues, so NRW actually produced some reports over that winter—they haven't got to do that, so there's a query whether they ought to have done it or whether they should do it; there are some issues there as well. Other authorities involved, the water authorities and other authorities, also didn't produce reports or did produce reports, so I expect the review to have a look at that landscape and see where we get.

Again, the committee that's looking at the regulatory framework for this is also looking to see whether all of these regulations put responsibility in the right place, on the right agency and so on. So, again, I'm desperately trying not to prejudge any of this, but, clearly, at the moment Welsh Government, local authorities and water companies and other responders all have some responsibility. Is that right? Does that work? We're expecting the committee to be able to make some recommendations to us about whether it does and how to embed it if it's right, and, if it's not right, what to do about it. So, I look forward to that.

And then, in terms of the public confidence in the reports, obviously the review will be looking at that. Siân Gwenllian and I had a very good meeting with Professor Evans and she's asked for some time to have a look at the scope of this—it's a lot of reports to look at—and also to consider what secretariat she needs and what back-up she needs. She's going to come back to us, I think within the month is what we agreed, to give us a better at least wet finger in the wind about what that might look like, although I don't want to hold her to that; I'm very keen to have it done properly rather than swiftly—within, obviously, parameters; we don't want it to take a decade. So, I'm hoping that she will come back, and I have every confidence she will. She undertook a report in my own constituency, if the Llywydd will forgive me for segueing into that for one moment, which is very complicated and highly controversial in the community, and she did a splendid job very independently and robustly of that. So, I look forward to a very similar approach on this.

Thank you for your statement, Minister, and I'd also like to place on record my thanks to you for the work that you've done to date to work with communities to reduce vulnerability to the increased risk of flooding that we see as a result of climate change and for your announcement of over £71 million, the largest ever package of investment in Wales to reduce flood risk.

In your statement, you referred to section 19 investigations enabling local authorities to improve data models. I'd like to seek some clarification here as to who is responsible for building and maintaining these data models. My understanding was that this fell under the remit of Natural Resources Wales, so I'd welcome some further explanation on that.

Secondly, I'd like to raise the issue that, during the storms of 2020, some communities, such as Cynon Valley, experienced devastating flooding from rivers for which there was no previous data held. In my discussions with NRW, I've been told that this absence of data is a complete barrier to being able to build a case to successfully bid for flood defences. So, I'd like to ask what work is being done by Welsh Government to ensure these communities are not at a disadvantage in gaining protection from future flooding when the existence of prior data is currently key to working up a successful case for flood defence funding.

Thank you very much for that, Vikki, and thank you for your kind words. So, part of what we're looking at is who is responsible for which bit of this, where does the data come from, who is responsible for collating and holding it and so on, and, as I said, we've got a number of split responsibilities. It may well be that it comes back with, 'That's good, but you need to do x, y, z', or, 'That's not good and it should be with a particular agency.' So, that is one of the things that we want to have a look at. And also, at the moment, a section 19 report informs the work of the authority that produces it: should it be wider than that? What are the lessons to be learnt across boundaries and all that kind of thing? And then, the last one is: what is the role of the local community in feeding that in? They're not experts, but they have lived experience of it. So, we expect, in the various reviews that are undertaken, those issues will come back out to us as part of that.

And then I have had a really good conversation with NRW about what's called the baseline review of the work that they do, to go through all of the resources currently available to them, where they're currently deployed, whether that's optimal or not and how they can be redeployed towards our priorities, and we're doing a piece of work about how their funding works in terms of income and so on, which I hope to report on to the Senedd later in the summer, which I think will clarify some of those issues as well.

Finally, Darren Millar.

Diolch. Minister, thank you for your statement today. I have the fortune of representing the beautiful town or village of Llanfair Talhaearn in Clwyd West, but, unfortunately, that is a community that has experienced flooding on five occasions since 2008. On each of those occasions, there have been reports and investigations and recommendations made, including recommendations in 2012 to undertake some capital investment on the flood defences in that community. They're only just now implementing the second phase of those recommendations and the works that need to be done. It's 10 years on, Minister, and, in that intervening period, that community has been flooded again, most recently, of course, in early 2020, in February 2020. What action is the Welsh Government going to take through this review and anything that comes out of it to make sure that, when recommendations are made to improve defences, they're actually delivered in a timely manner, not a decade? You said you don't want this review to take a decade to do its work; I don't want NRW to be taking a decade to implement much-needed improvements to flood defences in villages like Llanfair Talhaearn in the future.

Yes, well, I'm glad it's happening now, anyway, Darren Millar, and it is very beautiful, you're quite right, and I'm very glad for the residents that that flood defence is going ahead. So, part of the announcement I've just made is the announcement of the increased funding for capital works, differences when working with our local authorities to make sure that we have a priority set of works that need to go ahead, and they'll be informed by the various reports that come out.

We also, as part of the TAN 15 pause and review, have asked all the local authorities in Wales to produce a serious flood containment assessment. So, it will assess the risk in their area and it will put forward a programme over the next 20 or so years of flood defences and other natural flood mitigation, risks and so on, to enable the security of people in their homes and also additional development where that's necessary or appropriate. So, I hope that we've improved that very significantly. I don't know why it took 10 years—I don't have enough information to be able to comment on that—but I think what I've announced today will significantly improve both the pipeline of flood programmes and the ability of the local authority to both assess the priority need and put those in place.

I thank the Minister.