4. Statement by the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales: Response to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:07 pm on 20 May 2020.

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Photo of David Rowlands David Rowlands UKIP 3:07, 20 May 2020

Can I thank the Minister for his statement this afternoon, and also to thank him for his own strenuous efforts during this very, very difficult time? I'd like to also acknowledge the broad spread of interventions by the Welsh Government and, indeed, their implementation in an efficient manner, particularly through the agencies of local government and the Development Bank of Wales. And I think we also want to acknowledge the great part that Business Wales is playing in this in giving such good information to companies out there.

Talking about companies, Minister, the people of Wales are dependent upon many companies making their lives much better during this lockdown, but I'd like to bring your attention to a company that I believe is not doing this and is failing their customers during this crisis. I refer here to customers of SSE, which was previously SWALEC, the electricity supply company. Apparently, the failure of an electricity meter caused a customer to lose their electricity supply. They found it impossible to inform the company of this breakdown. I myself then attempted to contact the company using their website and a number of telephone numbers, including the number given to Western Power specifically for the coronavirus crisis, only to get on repeated occasions the message that the service was not available. There appears to be no emergency number available to SSE customers, or indeed any way of contacting them during an emergency. This customer has been without electricity for some 48 hours. Whilst it's not the case in this instance, this could have been a household where health aids depend on an electricity supply to function and these would have, of course, not worked, possibly putting lives at risk. Do you feel the failure of the company is acceptable in these matters?