North Wales MS and Chair of the Welsh Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency, Mark Isherwood, has welcomed the short term actions outlined in the Welsh Government’s new Fuel Poverty Plan, but expressed concern that it will not help those living in fuel poverty in the long term.
Responding to this week’s Statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs on the plan, ‘Tackling Fuel Poverty 2021-2035’, Mr Isherwood said the sector is very disappointed in particular that there are still no interim milestones between now and 2035.
He asked the Minister to respond to National Energy Action’s (NEA Cymru) statement that “the Welsh Government has fallen short of its statutory duties and that unless urgently addressed, thousands of people living in the coldest and most expensive to heat homes may not be helped for many years to come?”, adding:
“As they say “Several years after the previous targets to eradicate the scourge of cold homes in Wales were missed, fuel poverty continues to be a devastating problem. Over 150,000 households cannot afford to heat and power their homes and Covid-19 has made this challenge even starker, with many people at home using more energy, owing more and earning less. As well as setting a final target for action to end fuel poverty in Wales, the Welsh Government has a legal duty to introduce supporting milestones to set a path to the final target.”
Mr Isherwood stressed that failure to introduce any interim targets would result in there being no effective way of ensuring the worst affected households -e.g. in the most severe fuel poverty - are assisted as a priority before the final target date and urged the Welsh Government to address this key omission in the Plan, as soon as possible.
He added:
“Although the Plan makes two brief references to Health in the context of Winter Resilience and Consulting on eligibility for support beyond March 2023, a further two years down the road, why has the Welsh Government not committed within the Plan to longer-term measures to join up action on fuel poverty within the health sector, alongside the commitment to reach net zero?
“Although ‘Fixing Wales’ cold, leaky housing and reducing needless energy costs is fundamental, the Welsh Government has also missed the opportunity to introduce fuel poverty targets related to upgrading the energy efficiency of homes – where helping improve homes, especially for those living on the lowest incomes, is directly in the control of the Welsh Government and should have been a clear priority. ”