Shadow Social Justice Minister and Chair of the Senedd’s Cross-Party Group on Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency, Mark Isherwood, has welcomed the launch of the Warms Homes Programme, but raised concerns that not all lower-income households living in fuel poverty will benefit.
Over the past 12 months, Mr Isherwood has repeatedly challenged the Welsh Government over delays with the scheme, and in December urged Ministers to implement it with urgency to support low-income households in making their homes more energy efficient this winter.
Although he is therefore pleased that the scheme has at last been launched, he responded to the Climate Change Minister’s Statement on ‘The Warm Homes Programme’ in today’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament by questioning the Minister over the delayed introduction and highlighted concerns that have been raised with him about the scheme.
He said:
“Wales has some of the oldest and least thermally efficient housing stock compared to the UK and Europe. The Welsh Government estimates that there are 614,000, or 45% of households in Fuel Poverty in Wales, and states that the Warm Homes Programme is its primary mechanism to tackle fuel poverty.”
Mr Isherwood highlighted the Director of Citizens Advice Cymru’s call for an Awareness Campaign for the new Warm Homes Programme, and raised Care and Repair’s concerns that homes in a poor state of disrepair will not benefit from the Programme, as enabling works do not appear to be covered in the scheme and many homes will not therefore benefit from works available through the new Programme until the disrepair has been tackled.
Mr Isherwood said:
“This means that older homeowners on a low income will continue to live in homes that are energy inefficient, cold and more expensive to heat, with significant ramifications for their health and well-being. How will you rectify this, so the new Programme is reaching as many people in need as possible?
“The level of the budget threshold per property is still and will be a very important consideration. This will impact the scale and depth of support provided to each household.
“Eligibility will be based on a low-income threshold, rather than relying solely on means-tested benefits. So, will the level of the low-income threshold take into account differences in household size/composition, will it be after housing costs, and how much will be allocated per property?
“The Welsh Government has confirmed that the Programme will have a budget of £35m in 2024/25, the same as the previous year.
“The tender document published by the Welsh Government for the new Programme outlined that a supplier would be expected to undertake work on 11,500 properties over 7 years. This is equivalent to just over 1,600 properties a year.
“Based on these figures, it would take over 130 years to improve the energy efficiency of up to 217,700 lower-income households currently estimated to be in fuel poverty in Wales, and many decades even with the Programme’s advice and referral services.
“How do you respond to NEA Cymru’s statement that in future years, the Programme’s funding will need to significantly increase, and that ‘we have to spend to save: prioritising long-term investment to make fuel poor homes much warmer, greener, healthier places to live, with energy bills that are permanently low’?
“Little is known about Part Two of the Warm Homes Programme at this stage beyond that it will be ‘an integrated approach across all tenures and income levels to drive decarbonisation’. So what detail can the Minister share with us on Part Two?
“Finally, I have previously called for the Welsh Government to set ‘interim targets in their Tackling Fuel Poverty 2021-2035 Plan’, which does not yet meet the Welsh Government’s Statutory obligations to specify ‘interim objectives to be achieved and target dates for achieving them’.
“As Citizen’s Advice Cymru states, Interim targets would ensure that the ‘Welsh Government is accountable for progress’. So what are your plans to introduce these targets now?”
Speaking afterwards, Mr. Isherwood added “Statements by Ministers in the Senedd Chamber are supposed to be responded to with specific questions, but what is the point when I didn’t hear answers to any of my specific questions in her response?”
