8. Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's relationship with the Welsh Local Government Association decarbonisation strategy panel? OQ58443

The panel was established by the partnership council for Wales to steer local government work on climate change. Our relationship is one of partnership.

Thank you, Minister. As you are aware, the Welsh Local Government Association decarbonisation strategy panel has the monumental task of helping to ensure that all local authorities in Wales meet net-zero carbon by 2030. I understand that climate change is a standing item on the partnership council for Wales, which you chair. With this in mind, I would be very interested to know, since the publication of the framework for action in October 2021, what programmes of work have been developed both regionally and nationally, what targets have been set to ensure progress, and what additional challenges you have identified in meeting this target, given the extraordinary rise in wholesale energy prices. Thank you.

I'm very grateful for the question, and I've really been pleased with the work of the panel, which actually continued right the way through the pandemic and was able to keep on delivering, because we obviously have a commitment for public sector organisations to meet the net-zero 2030 ambition, and we're doing that through the panel by providing technical and financial support for renewable energy and energy efficiency, of course, and that goes through our energy service.

The energy service itself saw £28 million invested in 43 energy efficiency projects across 25 organisations. They include health boards, local authorities, national parks and colleges, and they have a range of projects, for example, from LED street lamp installations to low-carbon heat solutions. And there is a range of activity that is obviously going on in that particular space.

I think that the panel has made significant progress since it was established, because it has also supported local authorities to develop their own commitments for the Net Zero Wales plan, which we published last autumn. So, demonstrating how each local authority will make its own commitment towards that drive. And it's also overseeing a programme of work that supports the delivery of those commitments and is providing strategic direction, then, to the WLGA climate change support programme, which we fund via Welsh Government to the tune of around £300,000 a year for five years. So, I'm really pleased with the work of the panel. It's really important work and, of course, if the energy crisis tells us anything, it's about the importance of investing in renewable energy.