3. What action is the Welsh Government taking to improve water quality in the River Usk catchment area? OQ58199

I thank Peter Fox for that question. Water quality in the Usk faces multiple risks ranging from climate change and industrial and agricultural pollution, to faulty septic tanks and wastewater discharges. Welsh Government provides direct investment and sets the regulatory framework, but effective improvement will depend on co-operation across a range of different organisations and individuals.

Thank you, First Minister, for your response, and water quality is a significant issue for communities right across the country and Members in this Chamber. Only last week we were debating the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee's findings on the subject, and their report made for sobering reading. Tomorrow, we'll be debating the same committee's report on Natural Resources Wales, which raises questions about their progress on measures to monitor and manage water pollution. Recently, in Usk, hundreds of local residents marched in protest and made it clear that they've had enough of seeing the River Usk polluted as it currently is, and they demand action.

I acknowledge and welcome that steps are being taken by Welsh Water in particular to reduce the impact of overflows on the Usk and surrounding catchment area. The upcoming work on the Usk pumping station, as well as the planned installation of additional phosphorus strippers, are a step in the right direction, but regulation is fundamental to lasting change. First Minister, do you have confidence that the regulators have the capacity and are taking sufficient action to tackle these issues on the Usk, and, indeed, all Welsh river catchments? First Minister, what message can you give to reassure communities in the Usk catchment that the Government is on top of this situation?

I thank Peter Fox for his recognition of the actions that are being taken by Dŵr Cymru on the Usk in response to the concerns that have been expressed by local residents. As Peter Fox will know, it's a three-phase programme of work, with £10 million to be invested. Phase 1, the work at the Usk sewer pumping station, is already under way, and due to be completed by the end of November, then with further works to continue over the next two years.

In terms of regulation, Llywydd, in preparing for today's questions, and the question that comes later on the order paper from Laura Anne Jones, I discovered—because this is not always my main source of expertise—that drainage and wastewater planning is the only area without a statutory status in the water sector. So, when it comes to the quinquennial reviews carried out by Ofwat—the price review—the risk is that drainage and wastewater planning doesn't receive the same level of priority as other aspects that do have a statutory obligation behind them. The Welsh Government has secured powers through the UK Government's Environment Act 2021 to bring regulations in front of the Senedd to put those drainage and wastewater management plans on a statutory basis here in Wales. We're currently piloting those management plans on a non-statutory basis. We'll learn as a result of doing it—this is the way that industry have asked us to proceed—and then we plan to introduce the regulations in front of the Senedd next year, in 2023. That will mean that those plans will be on a statutory basis here in Wales in time for the next Ofwat price review in 2024, which means that they will have to be taken equally seriously with the other obligations that Ofwat weighs up when it's coming to its conclusions.

I hope that that will provide some assurance to residents in the Member's constituency that, as well as the investment that is being put in place, the regulatory framework is also being strengthened here in Wales in order to tackle what I entirely agree with Peter Fox is a very serious issue that requires action across a range of organisations and individuals.

Question 4, Altaf Hussain.

Let—. Ah, there you go.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. Yes, I can speak now.