4. How does the Welsh Government support the welfare of South Wales Central residents who continue to face the risk of flooding? OQ59119

Thank you. We have provided over £71 million to flood risk management authorities across Wales this financial year. This includes £12.2 million in capital funding to RMAs in South Wales Central this year. This will be used for improvement works to flood risk management infrastructure, benefiting approximately 1,280 properties directly.

Thank you, Minister, but my question was specifically on the well-being of residents. This week marks three years since the devastating flooding across the region that I represent and beyond as a result of storm Dennis. Three years on, most of the repair work is by now complete, but the impact on both children and adults affected is just as great today as it was then. Many remain traumatised, living in fear every time it rains heavily and unable to sleep. Some have been told by Natural Resources Wales that there is a continued risk to their lives if their homes are flooded in the future, meaning they aren't just fearful for their homes, but their lives are in danger.

Though some areas have benefited, as you outlined in your response, from investment in flood defences and flood prevention measures, there is much more to do. There's an inconsistency in terms of which homes have been offered free floodgates or doors. Further, no psychological support has been offered, nor has there been investment in the setting up of flood action groups to help support communities should the worst ever happen again. How will the Welsh Government support people living in fear? Are there any plans to invest in the setting up of flood action groups in all areas that are at continued risk of flooding?

I'm not aware of any plans to set up flood action groups, but I'm sure they could be looked at locally. I mentioned the significant funding we've put into trying to protect as many houses as we possibly can, but I think everybody accepts, with climate change, that it's not going to be possible to do that 100 per cent. But I absolutely agree with you; I was the Minister with responsibility for flood mitigation when storm Dennis hit, and I visited many of the people that you refer to, and it's absolutely devastating. I very much welcomed the recent report 'Every time it rains' by the British Red Cross. I think it really did provide insight into the long-term impacts on communities in the way that you refer. My only advice, really, would be, in the first instance, to make sure that people are accessing the correct health services if they really feel they need some additional help there.

Minister, as you are aware, flooding can seriously impact our communities, resulting in long-term environmental damage, destruction to property, disruption to our transport network and, sadly, even resulting, as my colleague Heledd said, in the loss of life. Another consequence of flooding is the risk of pollution from sewage and industrial chemicals, for example, contaminating our streams, rivers and coastlines, which can result in potential public health issues as well as killing fish and other marine animals, destroying valuable marine ecosystems and, in some cases, even entering our food chain. With this in mind, Minister, I'm interested to know what steps this Government is taking to reduce the likelihood of pollution incidents from sewage and industrial waste occurring during flooding, particularly in those areas you've identified as being at risk. What steps should be taken to stop commercial developments setting up that offer a possibility of a high risk of pollution on sites on or near floodplains? Thank you.

Thank you. I mentioned that we've provided over £71 million to flood risk management activities in the current financial year and, of course, many of those flood defences address the issues that you've referred to. This is on top of similar funding year on year over the past decade. We have to face facts: with our summers getting warmer and our winters getting wetter, we are going to see increased instances of flooding, unfortunately, here in Wales. It is about making sure that the right flood defences are in the right place. There are lots of different flood defences now. The Minister has been very keen to make sure that flood defences that are being built have other benefits as well for communities, and one of them is addressing the pollution problems.