If you're going, can you leave the Chamber, please? This is not an excuse to have a chat on the way out. Right. We are going to move to the short debate, and I call on Mark Isherwood to speak on the topic he has chosen. Mark.

Diolch. Can I start by saying I've given a minute to David Melding, who will be speaking after I conclude, with your indulgence?

A household in Wales is in fuel poverty if they spend 10 per cent or more of their income on energy costs. As chair of the cross-party group on fuel poverty and energy efficiency now, I also recall the hard work of the cross-party group on fuel poverty in the third Assembly, which I also chaired, to establish the fuel poverty coalition and the fuel poverty charter, and to secure agreement from the Welsh Government to revise its fuel poverty strategy then. In 2010, the Welsh Government set out its strategy to eradicate fuel poverty in Wales in all households by 2018. I apologise to the sector, who've put so much work into giving me information for this speech, that so few Assembly Members are showing them the respect of staying to give attention to their very deep-rooted and justified concerns.

Less than 10 months away from the target date to eradicate fuel poverty in Wales, the most recent statistics show that almost 300,000 households in Wales—23 per cent of the total—are living in fuel poverty, unable to afford to adequately heat their home, or in crippling debt with their energy supplier. It is clear, therefore, that this Welsh Government strategy hasn't met its objectives. 

The objectives of the 2010 fuel poverty strategy are of course still relevant. It's still vital that we reduce the impact of fuel poverty on households and work to eradicate fuel poverty. It's still vital that we create green jobs and business opportunities, and it's still vital that we reduce energy inefficiency in the domestic sector. However, many of the mechanisms and measures contained within the 2010 fuel poverty strategy are out of date or no longer applicable. Although the Nest and Arbed schemes are helping, these alone are not sufficient to tackle the problem. The Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs's announcement of £104 million investment over the next four years in increasing the energy efficiency of up to 25,000 low-income households in Wales is welcome. However, this will not eradicate fuel poverty by 2018. This equates to an average of 6,250 homes each year, and, if the schemes were to continue to assist similar numbers each year, it would take 48 years to eradicate fuel poverty in Wales. 

Britain's smart meter roll-out is the biggest upgrade to our energy infrastructure in a generation. Every household across Great Britain is eligible for a smart meter from their energy supplier at no additional cost. The energy system upgrade will digitise the retail energy market, bring an end to estimated bills and provide information on energy costs in pounds and pence. Smart meters give near real-time information on energy consumption, accurate energy bills and the information to work out whether people are on the best tariff or should switch to a different tariff or supplier. Once the national infrastructure is complete, smart meters will be fully interoperable between suppliers, which will mean quicker and easier switching. However, the roll-out will also require universal mobile connectivity, something the Welsh Government clearly has an important role to play in the delivery of. 

Smart meters should make pre-pay as easy as pay-as-you-go on a mobile. Consumers will have the ability to switch easily between payment options, with no need to change their existing smart meter. Consumers will conveniently see how much credit they've left on their in-home display, top-up will become more flexible, and people will pay the same rates as everyone else, because smart meters remove the need for pre-pay to be more expensive than other tariffs. However, energy suppliers have highlighted the need for the retail energy price cap to be constructed in a way that allows them to carry on implementing the smart meter roll-out.

The annual cost to the Welsh NHS for treating people who are made ill by living in a cold, damp home is approximately £67 million annually. Evidence by National Energy Action shows that a cold home can worsen arthritic conditions and rheumatic conditions, and increase propensity for falls. GP consultations for respiratory tract infections can increase by up to 19 per cent for every 1 degree drop in temperature below 5 degrees centigrade. And it's not only physical health problems that stem from cold homes. Individuals living in homes with bedroom temperatures of 15 degrees centigrade are 50 per cent more likely to suffer from mental health problems—in the context of the previous debate—than those living with temperatures of 21 degrees centigrade. With current demand on the Welsh NHS higher than ever before, more needs to be done to tackle cold homes. Eradicating fuel poverty will not only lead to a healthier population, and therefore reduce demand on NHS Wales, but will also contribute to the decarbonisation targets set by the Welsh Government.

We know that the energy used in homes accounts for more than a quarter of energy use in Wales. More energy is used in housing than either road transport or industry and, therefore, housing represents a major opportunity to cut energy use and emissions. A revised strategy with ambitious objectives is now vital. Better insulation, smarter lighting and appliances, and smarter heating systems could reduce the emissions of a household by 0.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, and will save the householder an average of £184 each year. Improving the housing stock will therefore both cut emissions and help tackle fuel poverty. NEA Cymru have called for new targets to improve homes to a minimum energy efficiency standard of energy performance certificate 'C', which I raised with the Cabinet Secretary last month.

Calor Gas have stated that they also fully support increasing the energy efficiency of homes and providing people with information to help them do this. However, they called for smarter design of EPCs as the principal energy efficiency rating measure on energy performance certificates, which is prominently placed on the first page and based on running costs rather than units of energy. They therefore state that this is an unreliable measure of energy efficiency, particularly in off-gas grid areas. They advocate instead the use of an energy-based rating system, adopting the approach used in many other European countries that have also had to comply with the energy performance of buildings directive. Calor highlight the need for a programme targeted at rural areas, which traditionally have higher levels of fuel poverty, with rural households more likely to be off the gas grid and living in less energy-efficient properties, for example, with solid walls and/or floors, or using non-traditional heating systems. However, the Welsh Government’s 2016 consultation on the future of its energy efficiency scheme Nest largely ignored the needs of rural communities, with little commitment to allow rural dwellings in smaller off-gas communities to benefit. Calor highlight the need to look at rural housing separately to urban, to encourage continued innovation and low-carbon fuels and technologies, and to ensure that current building regulations are properly enforced.

I've had the pleasure, amongst others, of visiting the Natural Building Centre in Llanrwst, Conwy, which offers comprehensive expertise regarding old buildings and ecological building products, including the appropriate insulation for non-traditional rural dwellings. We need to be thinking outside the box and looking at these innovative alternative solutions if we're going to reach out to these hidden needs and areas where fuel poverty is still far, far too high.

The 'Fuel Poverty Strategy 2010' states that:

'It is only by pulling together, social, environmental and economic objectives that we can improve the well-being of householders and communities in Wales.'

What is needed now is a revised fuel poverty strategy, with ambitious targets and investment in order to eradicate fuel poverty in Wales as a social justice issue once and for all. Yes, this is about energy efficiency, but it's also about tackling together social isolation, the impact on mental illness, financial illiteracy and debt, and much more. It's also about saving money for the public purse. As the Fuel Poverty Coalition Cymru states, the Welsh Government must 

'Save lives by implementing the NICE guidelines on tackling excess winter deaths'.

As the Bevan and Joseph Rowntree foundations told the Assembly's Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee three 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.'

And, as Age Cymru have said,

'many of the mechanisms and measures contained within the...2010 Fuel Poverty Strategy are out of date or no longer applicable', adding that

'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'.

We must put early intervention and prevention into practice, giving real meaning to person-centred and citizen-directed approaches. Independent advice services for people in fuel poverty must be supported, rescuing those in immediate crisis whose needs are not met by current provision, and I say that wisely because I have close relatives providing that advice and dealing every day with people in crisis who should have received help earlier.

Contributions by energy companies offering advice and support for people struggling with their energy bills must be embraced. The UK Government is considering measures to prevent millions of people getting into financial difficulty through unfair energy bills. The new proposals from them will help vulnerable people benefit from cheaper energy by allowing energy suppliers to automatically move vulnerable people onto a special safeguard tariff set by Ofgem that will protect them from unfair price rises, launching a consultation only yesterday to seek the views on changing the law to allow information to be shared under controlled conditions between public authorities and energy suppliers. This would identify customers receiving specific state benefits that indicate that they might be at risk of fuel poverty and see them moved automatically to Ofgem’s safeguard tariff cap.

The Welsh Government is urged to implement the following recommendations: to designate domestic energy efficiency as a key national infrastructure priority that lies at the heart of the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales's investment priorities, to develop a new long-term strategy for addressing fuel poverty as a matter of urgency and a matter of social justice, to set a new fuel poverty target to improve homes to a minimum energy efficiency standard, backed up with the data we need to drive an ambitious new strategy, and to ensure that public services boards for every local authority area in Wales outline how they intend to address cold homes and fuel poverty in their local well-being plans and integrate this into the work of the regional partnership boards. It’s time to get smart with fuel poverty. Diolch yn fawr.

I'm very grateful to Mark Isherwood for giving me a minute. I just want to focus on the potential we have to drive even more change through social housing. There's already good, indeed best, practice, emerging in this sector, because they can build at scale. So, we can be looking at homes that potentially generate more energy than they consume. That ends fuel poverty in those homes. It's astonishing. That achievement is now on our doorstep, if I can use an appropriate term. We need to develop a market for these standards in terms of social homes and building off site and modular building. These things are often very viable in terms of using the latest materials for maximum fuel efficiency. So, we're already seeing some good progress in terms of what the social housing sector can do for us. I want to see more of that so that we drive change and then it spreads out in terms of the general housing market, but also in terms of what housing associations can do for retrofitting and then developing and helping develop a more extensive market there, because what Mark has said is right—we're not going to achieve our target to eliminate fuel poverty, so I think we need to look to set a new one and to eliminate it as soon as possible, but drive forward with the necessary expenditures in our programme, because it will bring immense benefit to so many people, because living in a cold home is really bad for you.

Thank you. Can I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs to reply to the debate? Lesley Griffiths.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you to Mark Isherwood for bringing forward this very important debate where he raised some very important points. It gives me an opportunity to describe what we're doing as a Government and it also reminds us of the need to maintain action to tackle fuel poverty. Living in a cold home can have a significant impact on health, educational attainment and overall social and economic well-being. The Welsh Government has been absolutely clear in our commitment to do everything we can to tackle fuel poverty.

Wales has some of the oldest and least thermally efficient building stock in Europe, so it takes more energy to keep homes warm, driving up energy consumers' costs. Improving the energy efficiency of our housing stock is, therefore, key to reducing demand, reducing energy bills and tackling fuel poverty. This debate is focused upon the subject of getting smarter with fuel poverty, and there are many ways we can demonstrate a smarter approach. Smart meters are a non-devolved matter, however, we continue to work with Smart Energy GB, Ofgem and energy suppliers to ensure the needs of Welsh consumers are considered in the roll-out of smart meters. Smart Energy GB's research shows 86 per cent of households with smart meters make changes to their behaviour to save energy and this will be important if we are to achieve our ambitions for eradicating fuel poverty and also, of course, for achieving our ambitious decarbonisation targets.

Smart meters are significant, but there are, of course, other initiatives we must adopt in Wales if we are to eradicate fuel poverty. For example, Wales will be participating in Energy Systems Catapult's Fair Futures programme. The programme aims to understand how to design and deliver services to consumers facing difficulties, with low household incomes and high cost of adequate energy in their homes. The initial focus will be on the smart systems and heat programme area of Bridgend County Borough Council, but will spread to other areas as the Fair Futures programme develops.

The most effective way we can tackle fuel poverty is to improve the energy efficiency of homes of those on low incomes or living in the most deprived areas of Wales. We are doing this effectively through the Welsh Government Warm Homes programme, which includes Arbed and Nest. Warm Homes Nest is our demand-led fuel poverty scheme where households can access free, impartial advice and support to help them reduce their energy bills. Advice is provided in areas such as saving energy and water and energy tariffs. Nest also provides advice and referrals on broader issues, including benefit entitlement checks and debt advice, including money management.

Ofgem has reported an increase in the number of customers in Wales switching energy supplier. Latest figures show the number of people who switched their energy provider in 2016 was higher in Wales than the rest of GB. This is why the advice service through Warm Homes is so important, and we will build on this through the new Warm Homes programme to ensure more homes are getting the best deal, with potential savings of over £200 a year. I would also like to see energy suppliers doing more to ensure customers are on the most appropriate tariffs, rather than continually overpaying on standard variable tariffs.

For those most in need, and living in the least energy-efficient properties, Nest also offers a tailored package of free home energy improvement measures, such as boiler and heater upgrades and installation. Alongside Nest, we have our area-based fuel poverty scheme, Warm Homes Arbed. Arbed focuses upon improving the energy efficiency of homes in some of the most deprived areas. The scheme aims to reduce the carbon footprint of Wales's existing housing stock and, in doing so, provides resilience for households against rising energy costs.

I've maintained the Welsh Government's commitment to action on fuel poverty with a new Warm Homes programme commencing in the spring, which will run for the long term. As Mark Isherwood welcomed, we will invest a total of £104 million in Welsh Government Warm Homes, enabling us to improve up to 25,000 homes of those on low incomes or living in the most deprived areas of Wales. Our investment will also lever in up to £24 million of EU funding in addition to funding from the UK energy company obligation.

Since 2011, we've invested over £240 million to improve the energy efficiency of over 45,000 homes of those on low incomes or living in the most deprived areas. There are some concerns fuel poverty and vulnerable households could be left behind with the smart revolution taking place in energy. Once again, this is why the advice offered to householders within our Warm Homes programme is so important. Nest has provided impartial advice and support to over 98,000 households since 2011.

And whilst I am proud of this Government's ongoing commitment to tackling fuel poverty, there is, of course, more to be done. In November last year, I issued a written statement where I set out my ambition to increase the scale and rate of residential energy efficiency retrofit in Wales. The Environment (Wales) Act 2016 sets our ambition to reduce emissions in Wales by 80 per cent by 2050. The evidence tells us that to achieve our aim, emissions from buildings will need to be close to zero. Currently, homes contribute approximately 15 per cent of Wales's total emissions. Achieving reduced emissions of this scale will require new homes and buildings to be much more energy efficient. It will also require energy efficient appliances and changes to the way we heat our buildings.

Crucially, it will also require the dramatic upscaling of energy efficiency retrofit works on existing homes. Around 70 per cent of homes that will exist in the 2050s will have been built before 2000. My officials are therefore developing options for new interventions, examining how services could be established, operated and funded to deliver not only benefits to those in fuel poverty, but also wider economic, social and environmental benefits for Wales, including decarbonisation. Thank you.     

Thank you. That brings today's proceedings to a close.

The meeting ended at 19:06.