'Rough 12 months' ahead for environment watchdog

Staff at Natural Resources Wales (NRW) face a "rough old 12 months" ahead as it continues to prioritise work that has most impact, the chair of Wales' environment watchdog has admitted.

Sir David Henshaw told a Senedd committee the agency had already axed 256 posts and left vacancies unfilled to tackle a multi-million pound funding gap and staff had "found it really tough".

Environment committee chair Llŷr Gruffydd observed that NRW had been in a "state of flux for many, many years", warning that further changes would "take at least another year, maybe, to bed in and settle".

Campaigners have warned the "brutal" cuts "put nature at risk".

Sir David told Senedd members on Wednesday: "Our duty is to actually face the challenge and actually deal with it."

Sir David, and two other senior NRW figures appeared before the committee for the agency's annual scrutiny session.

"We can't carry on as we are," he said.

But he said "if you're taking 256 posts out plus other vacancies people, despite being a highly committed, massively committed workforce, they are wonderful people with specialism and all the rest of it, they found it really tough".

Sir David said the organisation was at a "pivotal point", that staff had "contributed massively to that corporate plan" but there was a "rough old 12 months" ahead.

Last October it emerged the Welsh government had paid £19m to settle a NRW tax bill following an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs into how it hired specialist contractors.

On Wednesday, Sir David agreed the issue had "been very difficult for us", but sai that other public bodies were in a similar position.

"There are some questions we need to ask ourselves," he said.

Finance director Rachael Cunningham said NRW's budget would be reduced over a decade to repay the money.