Ahead of Fuel Poverty Awareness Day, North Wales MS and Chair of the Senedd’s Cross-Party Group on Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency, Mark Isherwood, has called on the Welsh Government to increase investment in its Warm Homes Programme.
Speaking in this afternoon’s Business Statement, Mr Isherwood said that, with up to 98 per cent of low-income households in Wales living in fuel poverty, there is an urgent need to improve the energy efficiency of fuel poor homes.
Raising the matter when calling for a Welsh Government Statement on tackling fuel poverty in Wales, he said:
“Tomorrow is National Energy Action’s Fuel Poverty Awareness Day, which I’m pleased to be supporting as Chair of the Senedd’s Cross-Party Group on Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency. In Wales, it is estimated that up to 98 per cent of low-income households are living in fuel poverty. With energy prices set to stay high throughout the winter - well above pre-crisis levels - many households will struggle to keep warm and well. There’s an urgent need to improve the energy efficiency of fuel-poor homes in Wales, with energy bills that are permanently low.
“At the joint meeting of the Cross-Party Group on Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency and the Cross-Party Group on Housing last week, the discussion included the Welsh Government’s Warm Homes Programme. There’s a need to significantly increase its investment, which is currently insufficient to address the scale of the challenge in Wales, with opportunity to use consequentials from the UK Government’s Warm Homes Plan to help to do this. I call for a Welsh Government Statement accordingly.”
Responding, the Trefnydd (Leader of the House and a member of the Welsh Government ) said:
“in terms of the Warm Homes programme, that this is something that is going to make, and is making already, a huge difference to people’s lives. It is a scheme that was launched on 1 April, and it is £30 million more that we’re investing to reduce the number of low-incomes households living in cold, damp homes.
“I think it’s also important that we recognise that this is contributing towards achieving a net-zero Wales by 2050, and directly enabling a just transition. We've got a package of measures to insulate and decarbonise homes, leading to a reduction in energy bills, to move families and households out of fuel poverty.”
Mr Isherwood added:
“Unfortunately she failed to address the opportunity to use the funding which the Welsh Government will receive in consequence of the UK Government’s Warm Homes Plan to help address the scale of the challenge in Wales”.