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.