Julie James: Thank you, Jenny. So, on that last one, we fund and work alongside a number of universities across Wales, and specifically down in Swansea—very specifically—to develop as low a carbon as possible infrastructure for things like concrete and steel. You can't have renewables without steel, so making sure that the steel is produced as efficiently and in as low a carbon methodology as possible...
Julie James: Diolch, Delyth. Well, just to address that last one first, we thought very carefully about whether I should go to COP27, or indeed, the First Minister should go, but I'm actually attending COP15 in Canada—the biodiversity COP—which is a decision-making COP. And given the carbon footprint of going all over the place, and given that this isn't a decision-making COP—it's an implementation...
Julie James: Well, Janet, as always, I really feel the need to start by reminding you that you’re a Tory, and that the Tory Government is the one that removed the investment from Wylfa. Maybe we should just buy you a little history of the last 15 years and give it to your researcher, because I feel it’s sorely needed, quite frankly. And the other thing: I have to admire your sheer brass neck. I...
Julie James: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. As global leaders meet in Egypt for COP27, I am pleased to be able to update Members on how we will continue to lead the transition from fossil fuels to an energy system based on renewables. While messages from the UK Government have been confusing and contradictory, we have been clear and consistent. We will keep fossil fuels in the ground, and we will continue to...
Julie James: I'd be more than happy to meet with you and the council, and the developer, indeed, Sarah. We have brought forward changes to Part L of the building regulations. They are technology neutral, so we're saying that they need a 37 per cent change in the efficiency, but not that you need to do that via solar panels or an air-source heat pump, for all the reasons I've spoken about earlier. The...
Julie James: Well, you sort of answered your own question a little bit there, Mark. But, as I said before, we are absolutely looking at a fabric-first, worst-first kind of approach, but it's very difficult to just target one house sometimes. So, in my statement, I alluded to the fact that we're looking at community energy programmes. We're working with local authorities to do an energy map across Wales,...
Julie James: Just on that last one: it's a great scheme, isn't it? So, the kind of collective action that you get when you're able to implement the sorts of collective energy efficiency schemes that you get in that instance is an example, and we're hoping to roll that model out. So, for Members who aren't familiar with it, we've got a new estate and an old estate coming together with an energy efficiency...
Julie James: Thanks very much for that. As I said to a couple of other people as well, first off to say that the new programme will begin before next winter. So, we will procure it and start it before next winter, just to be really clear, and there's a clear timetable for doing that and I'm very keen, obviously, that we don't go into yet another winter without doing it. But, we do want to learn a lot of...
Julie James: Yes, Sam, I think we absolutely do need to look at an incentive programme for people. One of the mysteries of the world to me—you and I have discussed this when you had a previous hat on, as did I—is why house prices don't reflect various improvements. So, a huge mystery to me is why fully enabled broadband houses are not more expensive than ones that aren't, because if I was buying a...
Julie James: A very short answer, Jenny, is because we haven’t yet got all the learning out of ORP. So, the energy advice service is there to help owner-occupiers, but we’d like that to be much more specific, and we want to be sure that, when it is specific, it’s correct. So, we’re going to trial it out on our social housing providers, which we can de-risk, before we’re able to offer it. But...
Julie James: Two years.
Julie James: Diolch yn fawr, Mabon. Just to say, I agree with much of what you say, in terms of the detrimental effect of poor housing on health. There's much evidence to show that housing is one of the most fundamental things that can improve quality of life and quality of health, so I absolutely agree with you there. One of the reasons we did the Welsh housing quality standard in the first place was to...
Julie James: Thank you, Janet. I'm not entirely certain where the questions were in that. But, just to say a couple of things, you should be very careful about statistics; they're very deceptive. You chose to look at the percentage of houses at EPC C, but, of course, we've already brought all social homes in Wales up to EPC D as part of the Welsh housing quality standard. And if you actually ever listened...
Julie James: We will continue to learn from previous and current programmes. Multiple Welsh and UK schemes have delivered real benefit for vulnerable households. However, we are dealing with the legacy of some very poorly designed and delivered schemes from a decade ago. I recently approved £4.5 million for schemes in Bridgend and Caerphilly county borough councils to fix over 150 homes let down badly by...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. The cost-of-living crisis is in large part driven by energy price increases affecting the price of all consumables. Whilst this is having a detrimental effect on all our living standards, it is having a devastating effect on households who are least able to pay, driving families into fuel poverty. The Welsh Government has consistently called for a social domestic energy...
Julie James: Yes, absolutely, Alun. So, as I say, this is one of the strands of things that we need to do to come together to be able to deliver the kind of energy grid across Wales that we want. So, the urban initiatives are really interesting. We expect a large-scale renewables developer to have a look at whether there are large-scale opportunities in some of our urban environments, for example, the...
Julie James: Thank you very much, Jane, for that. I'm very pleased, as I say, delighted, to be announcing this, what is a really long-term investment for the people of Wales. I'm sure it won't be controversial, no matter who comes after us as the Government, because we should have done this a long time ago, but the next best time is now. So, here we are, going for it. This is complementary to community...
Julie James: Yes, thank you, Jenny. Absolutely right. I completely agree with all of that. There are some really good examples, though, around Wales, that we direct people to. So, Pen y Cymoedd, I don't know if you've managed to go up there, but it's well worth a visit. The increasing biodiversity around what they call the 'spotting' of the turbines has been exponential. It's actually quite astonishing....
Julie James: Thank you very much, Peter. I very much do remember that, with great pleasure as well. And one of the things we want to do is to assist councils to bring forward renewable energy schemes that do a number of other things as well—so, for example, enhance biodiversity, encourage tree planting around the edge and so on, all the things we discussed in Monmouthshire's bid, and, actually, with a...
Julie James: Thank you very much, Huw. So, obviously, I'm not going to comment on that particular one, but just in general, one of the reasons we want a state player owned by us, the citizens of Wales, is to put pressure on all the other developments across Wales to show what can be done in a joint venture between a state-owned developer and community engagement and the joint venture partner. We've done a...
