Written Statement (Wales): Tackling Fuel Poverty - Jan 27

Jane Hutt, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip: Tackling Fuel Poverty is a key commitment of Welsh Government. We recognise the difficulties the price cap increase on 1 January is having on many households across Wales who are already struggling to meet essential costs. Welsh Government continues to do everything in our powers to help struggling households and those in fuel poverty. 

An important way to tackle fuel poverty is to get more money into peoples' pockets.  Maximising incomes and building financial resilience are top priorities of our government. In line with our commitment to social justice, we are committed to ensuring that people in Wales claim every pound they are entitled to. We have a strong benefit take-up campaign that is delivering results and that is why awareness of financial support is increasing in Wales. We can and are doing more. 

Our latest media burst for our Claim What's Yours national benefits take-up campaign started in January and will run through to 31 March 2025 with accessible awareness raising messages being delivered through all media channels including TV, radio and social media. The main Call to Action signposts people towards Advicelink Cymru and encourages them to check their eligibility for further financial support. We, alongside our local authority partners, are actively helping our citizens claim more of what is theirs.

During the period April 2023 to March 2024, Claim What's Yours advisors have helped over 36,800 people, with over 120,000 issues, over 9,600 of these were about debt problems. People helped were supported to claim over £10.4m in additional income. That is a huge sum. 

There is more that Welsh Government is doing to help families across Wales as part of a holistic package of measures:

Our ongoing package of support includes our Discretionary Assistance Fund, Single Advice Fund Services, and Fuel Vouchers Scheme as well as our £1.5m funding for Warm Hubs that provide warm and safe spaces in the community. 

These Warm Hubs are open to everyone in the community, where people of all ages can go to access vital services and advice, participate in social activities or simply get a warm cuppa. Additionally, on 15 November I announced a further £700,000 to support the work of the Fuel Bank Foundation here in Wales, bringing our total investment this year to £1.2m. Since June 2022 we have allocated more than £6.3 million funding to enable the Fuel Bank Foundation to introduce a national Fuel Voucher and Heat Fund scheme in Wales. The scheme has provided support to eligible households that pre-pay for their fuel and are at risk of disconnection. This includes the provision of fuel vouchers for homes with prepayment meters and deliveries of oil or gas for those not connected to the mains gas network. 

Another vitally important social justice scheme is the Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF). It is a demand led crisis fund providing emergency support to those Welsh residents, over the age of 16, who are in financial crisis with no other means of support. The DAF budget is £38.5 million for 2024/25, allowing a significant level of support to continue, at a time when individuals and families across Wales face financial hardship because of the cost-of-living crisis. 

Our Warm Homes Nest scheme is our primary mechanism to tackle fuel poverty. We are investing more than £30 million this year in the new Warm Homes Nest scheme to reduce the number of low-income households living in cold, damp homes. Eligible households receive a bespoke package of measures to insulate and decarbonise their home, leading to lower energy bills, moving them out of fuel poverty. Free energy savings advice is available to all householders in Wales. Nest Warm Homes Programme | GOV.WALES.

We are maximising the reach of Warm Homes Nest by working with the WLGA and local authorities to leverage in funding from Westminster through schemes such as the Energy Companies Obligation scheme (ECO). Alongside this, we are also signposting callers to our energy savings advice line to other appropriate schemes such as the Great British Insulation scheme and the Boiler Upgrade scheme

We are using the levers we have at our disposal to push regulators and suppliers to do more for our citizens. I met energy suppliers in October who confirmed their commitment in supporting householders struggling to pay their bills. Welsh Government would like to see suppliers sharing good practice on how best to protect these vulnerable households. I have underlined to the suppliers the importance of communicating the support they have available to their customers, and will ask them to report how they have done this before our next meeting.

Energy suppliers and Ofgem, as the energy regulator, have an important role in protecting vulnerable households from unaffordable energy costs. I met the Ofgem director of Consumer Protection and Retail Markets in December and I called on them to introduce a social tariff to offer protection to vulnerable householders. Ofgem are working with UK Government on data targeting to better support struggling households. This is something I very much welcome and have written to the Minister for Energy and Consumers confirming Welsh Government's support for this. 

In a meeting with the Minister for Energy and Consumers I highlighted the unfairness of standing charges as householders in South Wales, and North Wales remain in the top three most expensive regions across Great Britain.  I encourage Ofgem and the UK Government to act holistically across the policy landscape to reform standing charges, through measures such as a social tariff and equalising standing charges across the regions of Great Britain.

I am proud of the Welsh Government's continued commitment to tackling fuel poverty and helping families claim all they are entitled to.  With stubbornly high energy prices and the legacy of 14 years of austerity, it is more important than ever that we tackle this from every direction. Through our holistic approach we are maximising household incomes, improving the energy efficiency of homes, and through our discussions with OFGEM, the UK Government and the involvement of the Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency Cross Party Group, we are striving for a long term solution to fuel poverty.