On Wednesday the Senedd will debate the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee’s report following its latest annual scrutiny session with the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (NICW).
Here are some key pointers ahead of the debate:
- The NICW is an independent, non-statutory, advisory body to the Welsh Ministers. Its key purpose is to make recommendations to the Welsh Government on Wales’ long term infrastructure needs over a 5 to 80 year period.
- During its latest annual scrutiny session in February, the Committee questioned the Chair of the NICW on matters including its budget, independence and how it is responding to the Welsh Government’s own review of the NICW.
- Members also scrutinised the NICW’s work programme, particularly its work on flooding, which also helped inform the Committee’s recently published storm response report.
- The NICW published its report on ‘Building Resilience to Flooding in Wales by 2050’ in October 2024. It made 17 recommendations to the Welsh Government on issues including land use planning, public awareness, climate adaptation funding and flood risk data. It also called for a Water Commissioner and new Water Resilience Forum to be established, and for the Welsh Government to provide subsidies to low-income homeowners to build flood resilience at the property level.
- The Welsh Government responded to the NICW in April. It accepted some, but not all of the Commission’s recommendations.
- The Committee’s report – the subject of this week’s debate - makes recommendations for both the Welsh Government and the NICW. Overall the Committee concluded that the NICW has continued to produce challenging and worthwhile reports. However it questioned the Welsh Government’s commitment to the NICW, highlighting its delay in responding to reports, the narrow focus of its review, and uncertainty regarding the budget and Commissioners’ future roles. The Committee also said it had not seen evidence that the NICW’s advice is informing or future-proofing Welsh Government decisions.
- Both the NICW and the Welsh Government have responded to the Committee’s report – all of the Committee’s recommendations to the Welsh Government were accepted or accepted in principle.
You can catch the debate live on Senedd TV on Wednesday 24 September.
Article by Francesca Howorth, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament.