I also welcome this debate by my fellow Labour Members, Huw Irranca-Davies and Jeremy Miles. It highlights the pre-existing good work of the Welsh Labour Government in practice, and challenges us to continue and further this work as a national priority for Wales.

Since 2011, the Welsh Labour Government has invested more than £270 million in the Welsh Government’s Warm Homes scheme and improved the energy efficiency of more than 39,000 homes. In January, the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, announced an additional £40 million to take direct action to reduce people’s energy bills and improve the energy efficiency of up to 25,000 more homes. So, why is this initiative, and this debate, so important? Well, official findings, published in April in the fuel poverty health data linking report, evidence that there was actual lower health service use among people who had benefited from the Welsh Government Warm Homes Nest Scheme. This study used NHS data to compare the health service use of people who had benefited from Nest home energy improvements, and a control group who were eligible for improvements but were still waiting for these to be completed. The research found that GP events for respiratory illness fell by almost 4 per cent for those who had benefited from Nest improvements, while those rose by almost 10 per cent in the control group over the same period. A similar pattern was found in relation to asthma events, with a 6.5 per cent decrease in the recipient group and a 12.5 per cent increase in the control group for the same period. So, this is clear, undisputable evidence of the value and worth of Welsh Government investment in home energy improvements in health.

Moreover, fundamentally we have a moral and ethical obligation to ensure that low-income households and communities are assisted in ensuring their homes are energy efficient and the attendant benefits that are a consequential outcome delivered. I would agree, therefore, with the call for the Welsh Government to consider how it can further expand these programmes and on a national infrastructural platform.

There must surely be a consensus across this Chamber that providing funding for energy-efficient improvements to those living in deprived communities across Wales is a no-brainer, because it helps to counter ill health, reduce climate change—although there is dispute from some as to whether climate change exists—helps eradicate fuel poverty and the poverty premium, and it boosts economic development and regeneration in Wales, as has been stated, on both a foundational and productivity platform.

Deputy Llywydd, as the debate notes, the proposal to establish a national infrastructure commission for Wales must have energy efficiency within its remit for the holistic and evidenced well-being for all the people of Wales and, in particular, our most vulnerable. Thank you.