Prynhawn Da ac croeso, Good Afternoon and welcome,
And thank you to NEA Cymru for inviting me to host and speak at this event launching the Cross Party Group on Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency at this reception in the Fifth Assembly.
It is great to see so many guest and stakeholders here today.
Today’s reception will formally launch the new Cross Party Group on Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency, and provide Assembly Members with an opportunity to hear about the plans for the forward work programme of the Group.
Assembly Members will also have an opportunity to meet with members of the Fuel Poverty Coalition Cymru, NEA Cymru members, and wider stakeholders engaged in tackling fuel poverty throughout Wales.
The Fuel Poverty Coalition Cymru will also be outlining its campaigning priorities for 2018, and beyond and NEA Cymru will be showcasing some of its work to address fuel poverty.
In addition, the event will provide an opportunity to highlight the key recommendations of the 2017 UK Fuel Poverty Monitor Report, an annual report produced by National Energy Action and Energy Action Scotland, which reviews fuel poverty policies in the four UK nations.
With almost 1 in 4 households in Wales unable to afford to heat their homes, it is clear that we need to maintain the political focus on fuel poverty and energy efficiency at the National Assembly.
The Fuel Poverty Cross Party Group (CPG) was established in February 2007, preceded by the Energy Watch CPG, to maintain awareness of the issue of fuel poverty in the Assembly and to discuss the policies needed to address this.
We then worked to establish the Fuel Poverty Coalition and to launch the Fuel Poverty Charter in 2009, and to secure the revised Fuel Poverty Strategy in 2010.
I was a member of the Energy Watch Cross Party Group during the second Assembly and was privileged to chair the Cross Party Group on Fuel Poverty during the third and fourth Assembly’s - and would be happy to continue this role in the fifth Assembly, if elected, alongside the AMs who have already agreed to be members of the new CPG: Vikki Howell, Mike Hedges, and Simon Thomas.
Following consultation with AMs, it has been suggested that an open debate around key topic areas would be the most effective way to engage AMs via a new CPG.
As part of this new approach, NEA Cymru undertook a short survey of AMs to understand the key areas of interest related to fuel poverty AMs are interested in and to provide focus for the CPG discussions
Topics highlighted include:
- Fuel poverty targets and definitions
- Fuel poverty and inequality; a focus on links to income poverty and childhood experiences
- Economic prosperity through affordable warmth
- Engage with the Private Rented Sector
- The role of energy price caps and rebates’
- How to support rural and off-gas consumers
- And the impact of Brexit on energy consumers in Wales
Following the feedback received by NEA, we will also hold lunchtime meetings, and rename the Cross Party Group to become – the Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency Cross Party Group.
The purpose of the CPG will be to raise awareness of the problem of fuel poverty and enable AMs to openly discuss the policy issues which have an impact on the ability of households in Wales to afford their energy bills, with NEA Cymru providing the secretariat for the CPG.
The CPG meetings will conclude with agreed actions, which might include writing to Ministers in Welsh or UK Governments and encouraging AMs to raise issues by, for example, tabling an oral or written question, short debate etc.
In addition to quarterly meetings, a quarterly newsletter for Assembly Members will be produced by NEA Cymru to further engage AMs, and highlight policy issues of particular interest.
It is also planned to hold 2 reception events a year to engage AMs.
As NEA Cymru stated at Wales Annual Fuel Poverty Conference in March:
We drastically need a new fuel poverty strategy”, adding “whilst the Welsh Government’s investment in energy efficiency schemes through its Warm Homes Programme is commendable, we need a step change in ambition”.
As the Bevan and Joseph Rowntree Foundations told the Assembly’s Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee two years ago “fuel poverty should have a higher profile in the Welsh Government’s tackling poverty action plan, because it is a fundamental human need to have a warm home”.
In 2012, almost 30% of Welsh households were estimated to be in fuel poverty, spending 10% or more on household income on fuel to maintain heat adequate enough to safeguard comfort and health.
Changes in household incomes and fuel prices saw this fall to 23% in 2016, but that still represents 291,000 households in Wales, including 43,000 in severe fuel poverty.
There is no realistic prospect of achieving the 2018 target of eradicating fuel poverty in Wales – and, as Age Cymru state, “many of the mechanisms and measures contained within the Welsh Government’s 2010 Fuel Poverty Strategy are out of date or no longer applicable”-
adding “the time is right for the Welsh Government to refresh its Fuel Poverty Strategy, with a clear programme and time scales, credible evidence base and ambitious new fuel poverty target rooted in delivery rather than being a hostage to energy price movements”.
Working with Fuel Poverty Coalition Members, the new cross party group will campaign to play Fuel Poverty at the heart of action to tackle poverty, with strong emphasis on all sectors taking responsibility together.
I will now handover to Carole Morgan-Jones, Director of NEA Cymru.