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.