The committee's report found that the Welsh Government's £360 million Warm Homes programme lacked scale, size and purpose. This is a matter of serious concern, as is the report's finding that the drastic changes to the energy market over the course of this year are expected to hit the poorest households in Wales harder than any other UK nation or region, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

Although the Welsh Government accepted 21 of the report's recommendations, it's concerning that it accepted the remaining two only in principle. As I stated in this Chamber last autumn as Chair of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, it is the collective view of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee that the use of 'accept in principle' must not be used in response to committee reports again, and recommendations must either be accepted or rejected. Where further work is required to implement a recommendation, or if a deadline for implementation cannot be met, this should be set out clearly in the detail of the response.

Separately, as Chair of the cross-party group on fuel poverty and energy efficiency, I am also aware of concerns within Fuel Poverty Coalition Cymru about the Welsh Government's responses to some of the report's recommendations that it has accepted. As National Energy Action, NEA Cymru, stated in its submission to the committee's consultation,

'current schemes are insufficient to address the scale of fuel poverty in Wales, let alone decarbonise homes....now is a vital moment to consider how far the current Programme has taken us, and going forward take the opportunity to provide guaranteed support for the 'worst first'—i.e. those on the lowest incomes in the least efficient homes—improving the lives of fuel poor households as we decarbonise and upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes.'

They said that

'Poor energy efficiency is a key driver of fuel poverty and more than 80% of fuel poor households in Wales live in inefficient homes; higher than any other UK nation.'

They said that

'The resulting impact of poor-quality housing on health services is acute, costing the NHS in Wales approximately £95m every year. Conversely, Public Health Wales estimated that for every £1 spent on improving warmth in vulnerable households, this results in £4 of health benefits, and there could be close to 40% fewer hospital admissions for some cold-related illnesses in those with upgraded homes. The average annual saving for bringing a home up to a reasonable level of energy efficiency is...over £300 every year and over £1,000 for the poorest households in the least efficient homes.'

They concluded that: there must be adequate funding to meet the problem and that this funding should be spent on a 'fabric first' basis, working on the energy efficiency of the built environment to get homes net zero ready before, or at the same time as, making changes to the heating in a home; the programme must be delivered with adequate advice and awareness raising; and there must also be trust from households that the changes that are made to their homes will be of good quality, underpinned by access to sufficient redress. Lastly, to ensure confidence, there must be transparency in government plans.

As both they and the Fuel Poverty Coalition Cymru state, it is vital that the next iteration of the Warm Homes programme focuses on lifting households out of fuel poverty, supporting the worst first—i.e., those on the lowest incomes in the least efficient homes—and is backed by sufficient long-term funding and legislation to meet targets set in the Welsh Government’s tackling fuel poverty plan. With reference to funding, they state that although the Welsh Government accepted the recommendation that it should identify the funding required to respond by reviewing the sufficiency of its spending allocations for energy efficiency in housing, the response regarding this is non-committal, and that investment and funding to hit fuel poverty targets is needed. Overall, they state the key thing is a Warm Homes programme to lift households out of fuel poverty, lifting the worst first.

As the Auditor General for Wales stated in his report last November on the Welsh Government’s management of the current Warm Homes programme,

'When looking at any replacements for the Warm Homes Programme, the Welsh Government have several issues to resolve. These include rethinking the energy efficiency measures offered, being clearer about the core purpose of the Programme and tightening future contracts to align costs and to incentivise better value for money.'