, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with local authorities and Natural Resources Wales
Thank you. Steffan, have you got anything you'd like to add?
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with local authorities and Natural Resources Wales
A question from me, really, is—. We've focused on Natural Resources Wales, but I'm interested in the impact that it's had on local authorities as well—a general impact on your budgets, how you're planning in the future from a local resilience element, for…
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with local authorities and Natural Resources Wales
Niamh.
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with local authorities and Natural Resources Wales
Yes. Laura, I know you want to come in.
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with local authorities and Natural Resources Wales
Anybody online want to come in on this point? Na? Steffan.
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with local authorities and Natural Resources Wales
Lovely. Thank you.
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with local authorities and Natural Resources Wales
Diolch. And just to cut across, for housekeeping, I'll start in the room and then go online. Is that okay?
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with local authorities and Natural Resources Wales
Good morning and welcome back to our committee meeting this morning. We are now into agenda item No. 3, which is the wildfire resilience in Wales evidence session with local authorities and Natural Resources Wales. Joining us here is Dominic. He's an…
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
Diolch yn fawr. Thank you very much. That brings us to the end of our evidence session with you this morning. Can I just thank you on behalf of the whole committee for giving your evidence today? It was very thought-provoking, I'm sure, for all of us. Just to…
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
I'll just pick up on Andrew's point, and this is my final question to you. We do have a fiscal framework that we have to exist within in Wales. There is no magic money that can just be invented from somewhere, and a cut from one place means that something…
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
Thank you. A couple of final questions from me on the Welsh Government's role. One thing that I'm sure all Members and people have heard is exactly where the Welsh Government fit in all this. So, I'm just interested from your perspective: where do you see the…
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
Laura.
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
Andrew.
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
Okay, I'll bring Niamh in, and then I'll come to you, and then I'll come back to myself.
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
Happy? Lovely. Good. We're entering the last bit of our evidence now, but I'll bring Niamh in, because Niamh had some questions about forecasting and communication. I'll bring Niamh in, and then I'll probably ask some final questions, and then we'll round the…
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
That's fair enough. Thank you, guys. It's one of those questions about the fuel underneath, but I can imagine that—. If you don't feel confident to talk about that, that's fine. There's one thing I do want to bring out. We'll bring Paul in, because Paul wants…
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
There are a number of areas we haven't got to yet, but there are some areas that are quite important. One is about land management. John, you wanted to talk on land management.
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
Okay, thank you. I do want to move on quickly because I'm worried about time, but, Anna, I can let you come back quickly, if that's okay.
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
It's good to know that as well, because one thing from visits that I know a number of Members did was, actually, the communication elements. That's why I talked about co-ordination earlier—people on the ground not getting appropriate communication from people…
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
Could I go back a second to aerial support—what Anna picked up on? You said you're requesting aerial support going up but it never comes back. Is there a communication element there, back to firefighters on the ground as well, of why aerial support cannot be…
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
Laura.
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
That's fine. If it's something that hasn't been covered, I'm happy to go for it.
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
Okay, that's fine. No problem. We'll move on now to resource and capacity. I know we've covered this area quite extensively already. I don't know—. There are Members who have indicated—. I know Anna, Niamh and Laura want to speak on this area. Have the areas…
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
Is it frustrating, though, on the ground, for firefighters actually on the ground, actually being pulled from pillar to post, or are their experiences being fed up the chain, then, as such, into co-ordination? Is that happening effectively, do you think?
, Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability and Rural Affairs Committee
Wildfire resilience in Wales - evidence session with the Fire Brigades Union
Yes, because I'm interested in how that works. Because when you've got multiple fires going on—as I say, 14 fires going on—across the area, across Wales, and, in certain county areas as well, in Powys, in RCT and certain parts of Blaenau Gwent as well, there…
