Tag: Speeches

Jane Hutt – 2023 Statement on Windrush 2023

The statement made by Jane Hutt, the Welsh Minister for Social Justice, on 20 January 2023.

This year, on 22 June, we will mark 75 years since MV Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury, the moment which symbolises the “Windrush Generation” and crystalises how migration to the United Kingdom has shaped our society today.

Windrush Celebration Day recognises and celebrates the contributions of men and women from across the Commonwealth who helped to build a modern Wales and made this country their home. We again want to embrace this anniversary wholeheartedly as we have in previous years. This year we will celebrate and recognise its wide historic and present-day significance.

We are aware that Windrush celebrations will take place across the UK. Our engagement with Windrush Elders and organisations in Wales has ensured that we are well-placed to support communities to retell their stories and celebrate their contributions to our nation. The Welsh Government will again be funding both local and national Windrush events. We will also remain committed to seeking justice for the Windrush Elders in line with the Wendy Williams report published on 19 July 2018.

Migrants been helping to shape and enrich our nation since long before the Windrush arrivals and they are continuing to do so right up to the present day. As a Welsh Government, we have long supported and offered sanctuary to refugees and asylum seekers.

I am very proud that this year we have seen how our vision to welcome people from across the world has been adopted and brought to life in response to events in Afghanistan and Ukraine. Support has come in many guises, from thousands of individuals and families as well as businesses, local authorities, voluntary organisations, faith groups and many more. This is what we mean when we talk about Wales being a Nation of Sanctuary.

Our vision is to welcome and help anyone who is dispersed or resettled to Wales to access services and integrate with communities from day one of arrival. It is about recognising the person before seeing their immigration status. recognising that individuals come with skills and experiences and not just simply needs to be met.

As part of this rich and continuing story of Wales as a Nation of Sanctuary, the Windrush generation has a particular and unique place in our national life. I most strongly encourage all of us to mark this historic anniversary, including participating in the celebrations, whether on Windrush Day itself, or throughout the year.

February 9, 2023
Eluned Morgan – 2023 Statement on Eliminating TB in Wales
The statement made by Eluned Morgan, the Welsh Minister for Health and Social Services, on 20 January 2023.

As we begin the new year, I wanted to provide an update to Members on our progress towards eliminating tuberculosis (TB) in Wales, in line with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) vision to have the European Region free of the TB burden by 2030: Tuberculosis action plan for the WHO European Region 2023–2030. Information sheet\.

Wales currently has the joint lowest TB rates in the UK (2.8 cases per 100,000 population[1]) and overall rates have been declining since 2009.

Despite this downward trend, we continue to see some TB-associated deaths every year in Wales and the headline figures hide some increasing risks in TB prevention and control.

Around half of all cases of TB in Wales in recent years have been in people born in the UK, which creates a different set of challenges for detection and control. Cases are generally increasingly challenging and complex, and there is the continued threat of sporadic multi-drug resistant and extensively drug resistant cases.

TB is a potentially fatal disease with major health and social consequences for those affected. It contributes to increasing health inequalities in already deprived populations, and each infectious case represents a transmission risk to their contacts and communities.

Although most TB cases are curable, successfully supporting a single complex

case through treatment can have major resource implications for the NHS and wider public services. Furthermore, strong evidence exists to demonstrate that failure to prevent, diagnose and adequately treat cases can lead to the development of drug resistance, onward transmission of infection and TB outbreaks.

Even a single case of TB can lead to large and difficult-to-manage clusters and outbreaks. In 2018, there were three outbreaks of TB in Wales, all requiring screening of extensive numbers of contacts. The outbreaks had a serious impact on both the affected individuals and NHS resources.

Mass community screening of more than 1,500 people took place in 2019 due to a continuing outbreak with a cumulative total of more than 30 TB cases since 2010. This long-running outbreak has caused significant public concern, and activities associated with screening continue to this day. In 2020, a second mass screening exercise involving more than 1,000 staff and prisoners was undertaken following a TB incident associated with a prison.

That rates of TB in Wales have declined since 2009 is largely a tribute to the professionals involved in TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment and control. Given the challenges, we need to ensure there is renewed focus to eliminate TB in Wales. I have therefore agreed a number of actions will be taken forward:
- We will establish a bespoke TB Elimination Oversight Group to monitor and drive forward progress across Wales. It will report to the Chief Medical Officer under the Health Protection Advisory Group governance arrangements.
- Public Health Wales will re-establish the All-Wales TB Group, which was stood down during the pandemic. Its remit will include consideration and review of evidence including learning from outbreaks, advising on issues such as prioritisation of services and screening requirements for entrants into Wales and the development of guidance to support professionals.
- The first task of the All-Wales TB Group will be to review the Tuberculosis Strategy and Service Specification for Wales to incorporate the valuable lessons learned from both the Covid-19 pandemic and the programmes established to welcome those seeking refuge in Wales.
- The All-Wales TB Group will recommend the updated Tuberculosis Strategy and Service Specification for Wales to the TB Elimination Oversight Group for review and endorsement as a direction of travel in Wales.
- The All-Wales TB Group will develop a National TB Action Plan for agreement by the TB Elimination Oversight Group. This will be regularly reviewed to ensure the agreed actions are implemented.
I will keep Members informed of our efforts to prevent and control TB and our commitment to ultimately eliminate TB as a public health threat.

[1] Reports of cases of TB to UK enhanced tuberculosis surveillance systems, 2000 to 2021 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
February 9, 2023
Julie James – 2023 Statement on the Publication of the Consultation Response for the Deposit Return Scheme

The statement made by Julie James, the Welsh Minister for Climate Change, on 20 January 2023.

The Minister for Climate Change is pleased to announce the publication of the Government response to the consultation on the Deposit Return Scheme. The response is published jointly with the UK Government and Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland.

This follows the joint consultation in March 2021 and feedback from this consultation has been evaluated in developing the final design for the Deposit Return Scheme for drink containers.

Following the publication of this response to the consultation https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/introduction-of-a-deposit-return-scheme-in-england-wales-and-northern-ireland, the next stage will be the development of secondary legislation required to implement the scheme.

February 9, 2023
Jane Hutt – 2023 Statement on Women’s Safety in Public Places in Wales

The statement made by Jane Hutt, the Welsh Minister for Social Justice, on 19 January 2023.

Women and girl’s safety from abuse, both in public and private spaces, remains a priority for the Welsh Government. With violence against women again in the news, I wanted to set out how the Welsh Government is continuing to prioritise and address this issue.

Women and girls should be safe in all aspects of their lives. They should be safe to walk through public spaces. They should be safe at home. They should be safe to go to work and school. They should be safe in the day and safe at night.

No level of abuse is acceptable, but in fact we know that violence against women and girls is shockingly common. Harassment, abuse and violence are daily occurrences for women and have conditioned their lives for far too long. Misogyny and long-standing structural inequalities for women and girls sit at the heart of much of this. We are committed to challenging and addressing these damaging attitudes and behaviours head on.

Violence against women and girls is a societal problem which requires a societal response. It is not for women to modify their behaviour; it is for abusers to change theirs.

While it is right that, as part of our response, we look at options available to enhance women’s safety in public places, often these initiatives or schemes can place the burden on women to protect themselves or alter their behaviour. It is therefore vital that we also address the root causes of male violence against women, focusing on changing negative attitudes and cultures that allow violence and abuse to persist. Prevention and early intervention need to take centre stage, rather than solely focussing our attention on remedial measures.

Whilst we have all been shocked in recent years by the high-profile murders of women at the hands of strangers, many more women die every year at the hands of violent men who are known to them, and many 1000s more again suffer violence and coercive control that continues to blight their lives and opportunities. To change this, we must confront those committing the abuse, we must support survivors, and we must change the culture of misogyny and harassment that feeds the abuse.

That is why the Welsh Government’s Programme for Government commits to strengthening the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) Strategy to include a focus on violence against women in the street and workplace as well as the home in order to make Wales the safest place in Europe to be a woman.

Last year, the Welsh Government published our new five-year VAWDASV National Strategy, which will be delivered through a collaborative ‘blueprint approach’ alongside a group of key partner organisations including the police and specialist sector. In line with our commitment, one of these blueprint workstreams is Street Harassment and Safety in Public Places, which will provide a focus and expertise for an innovative approach to these issues.

Our ground-breaking Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015 also created duties on local authorities and health boards in Wales to publish and implement strategies for addressing these issues in local communities. This ensures that tackling violence against women and girls is prioritised across Wales.

With all of these issues in mind, many men are asking how they can be a better ally to women. Men and boys can help by not committing, excusing, or remaining silent about any kind of harassment or violence against women. Where it is safe to do so, call out inappropriate behaviour.

Our campaign ‘Call out only’ aims to help people identify behaviours associated with street harassment and acknowledges that the experiences of women and girls are serious and prevalent and can cause fear, alarm and distress. The campaign calls on the public (males particularly) to call out and challenge assumptions about harassment against women – often wrongly seen as ‘harmless’ or excused using the word ‘only’ – with their peers, friends and colleagues.

I would also encourage anyone with concerns about their own behaviour, or that of others, or if you are suffering abuse yourself, to speak to the Welsh Government funded Live Fear Free helpline on 0808 80 10 800 or via webchat, email or text.

We will continue to work in partnership with specialist services to raise awareness of the inequality and safety issues faced by women and girls, and to end all forms of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. We will continue to work with Welsh police forces, Police and Crime Commissioners, public safety boards and the Crown Prosecution Service to improve practice, instil confidence in victims to report incidents of abuse and violence when they occur and to hold those who abuse to account.

Wales will not be a bystander to abuse.

February 9, 2023
Jeremy Miles – 2023 Statement on School Improvement and the Information Landscape in Wales

The statement made by Jeremy Miles, the Welsh Minister for Education and Welsh Language, on 19 January 2023.

Over recent years, Wales has been moving towards a new way of teaching and learning which is focused on helping children and young people achieve the four purposes: to be ready to learn, to play a full part in life and work, to be citizens of Wales and the world, and be valued members of our society. The teaching profession has worked hard and creatively to build new curricula for their learners, and schools across Wales are now introducing the Curriculum for Wales. We have always been clear that we need to ensure that all aspects of the education system are aligned with and fully support the realisation of the new curriculum, and we have taken clear steps forward on both professional learning and implementation of the new qualifications from 2025.

Next steps – developing a new data and information ecosystem/landscape

In June 2022, I published school improvement guidance to introduce a new way for the education system to work together to support schools in their improvement, build confidence in the system and retain a clear focus on supporting all learners to progress through their education. In July, the Welsh Government published the curriculum evaluation scoping report which made recommendations for how we will know that our new curriculum is improving learning in Wales. Today we see the publication of the Developing a new data and information ecosystem that supports the reformed school system in Wales report, which sets out recommendations for approaches to using data and information, in a way that will allow partners across the system to work together to support all our learners, irrespective of background, to fulfil their potential.

The report outlines the different information needs within the system: the needs of learners and their parents, of schools, of local authorities, as well as the importance of information at a national level to form the basis for improvement across the system. I welcome this helpful evidence that will inform our thinking. The report proposes developing a broader suite of information on areas such as wellbeing (both learner and staff) and the development of learners’ skills integral to the four purposes. It makes clear that when analysing information, we consider the context of our schools and the challenges they face. This includes a more sophisticated understanding of relative economic disadvantage and learners’ additional learning needs, as well as the voice of learners.

It is crucial to have the right breadth of information to support evaluation and improvement, whether at a national level or a school level, but I wish to emphasise that the Welsh Government’s expectation is that information is used to support schools and local authorities to understand their own contexts and improve their own offer. It should not be used in isolation to judge performance or compare schools and information should be created for a clear purpose.

Outcomes from qualifications will continue to form a key part of a school’s evaluation and improvement considerations. In 2019, we introduced new transitional interim measures for secondary schools that ensured more focus on raising our aspirations for all learners. They removed the narrowed focus on borderline C/D grade pupils to instead recognise the achievement of all our learners at Key Stage 4. These measures were paused during the pandemic. I can confirm today that for an interim period, whilst we progress the development of a neutral approach to the information system, we will restart reporting of Key Stage 4 outcomes at school level using the approach adopted in 2019 (including the policy of counting only first entries of exams). We will report outcomes in the points score format, including the ‘Capped 9’, broken down by gender and eligibility for free school meals. There are clear benefits in retaining a recognised approach which reflects attainment in both general and vocational qualifications as well as the importance of every learner and their outcomes, and in minimising changes to the approach to reporting on an interim basis. We will develop further thinking to align with the introduction of new qualifications from 2025 as we develop our new information landscape.

Rolling programme of national sample assessments

It is very important to emphasise that this return to 2019 arrangements is only temporary as we move towards a more holistic system that promotes learning and puts learners, teachers and parents at the centre. It is important that we have transparency on what we are achieving at a national level too. The Welsh Government is commencing work on an ambitious programme of national monitoring of education. As outlined in the curriculum evaluation scoping report, this will include a rolling programme of assessments of samples of learners across the breadth of the Curriculum for Wales. This is not about testing every learner but understanding and monitoring the national picture of learners’ attainment and progress over time on a system-wide basis. This approach will minimise burdens on schools and the education system as a whole and help provide the information we need to understand our progress in tackling the impact of poverty on learners’ achievement and inform our approaches to addressing these issues. Development work for this programme is underway, and we expect to begin rolling out these sample assessments on a pilot basis in the academic year 2025/26, alongside the wider ecosystem development.

Practitioner engagement and co-construction

Building on the findings of today’s report, we will now work with practitioners across Wales to develop a shared set of information which can help to support learning by understanding learner progress, attainment and the components which drive them. This will be informed by the eight factors which support curriculum realisation set out in the school improvement guidance. We will have a particular focus on improving understanding of progress of disadvantaged learners. I will be keen to gain the views of parents in this work, to understand what information they will find useful. We will work with local authorities, regional consortia and partnerships alongside this to seek to build a coherent and consistent approach across Wales which supports learning and minimises workload for teachers and schools. The Welsh Government will be writing to schools in the coming weeks to provide further details, and I will provide further updates as this work progresses.

February 9, 2023
Jeremy Miles – 2023 Statement on Student Support for Higher Education Students in the 2023/24 Academic Year

The statement made by Jeremy Miles, the Welsh Minister for Education and Welsh Language, on 19 January 2023.

During a cost of living crisis, it is more important than ever that every measure is taken to ensure that everyone, no matter their background, can access higher education.

In 2018, the Welsh Government introduced a progressive and equitable student support system that is unique in Europe for financing full and part time undergraduates and postgraduates. This system is based on supporting students with the cost of living while they study.

We have taken the decision that the rate of support for students is linked to the value of the National Living Wage – this will increase substantially in the 2023-24 financial year. Despite continuing budget pressures, I can confirm today that we have ensured that the value of support is increased accordingly at this time of exceptional cost-of-living pressures.

This means that the rate of maintenance support paid to full and part-time higher education students from Wales will increase by 9.4% for the 2023/24 academic year, subject to regulations being made early in February. In contrast, the UK Government has announced a 2.8% increase for students ordinarily resident in England.

Our financial support for students has increased steadily in recent years. This increase will apply to full and part-time students who began a course on or after 1 August 2018.

The Welsh Government continues to provide the most progressive student finance system in the UK. Welsh undergraduate students have less to repay on average than their English peers as they can access our generous living costs package of grants and loans. The highest level of grant support is given to those students most in need. A substantial part-time student support package is available, enabling students of all backgrounds to undertake part-time study.

Living costs should never be a barrier to studying at university. The increase in support I am announcing today will ensure that students from all backgrounds are able to access higher education.

February 9, 2023

Eluned Morgan – 2023 Statement on Expansion in Training Places for the Health Professional Workforce in Wales

The statement made by Eluned Morgan, the Welsh Minister for Health and Social Services, on 18 January 2023.

Despite the challenges we face today, we continue to invest in the education and training of healthcare professionals in Wales. There is great demand on our NHS in Wales and the continued necessity to increase the training numbers and funding for essential health professionals in 2023/24. This is why, for the ninth consecutive year, funding to support health professional education and training in Wales will increase.

£281.98m will be invested in 2023/24; this equates to a 8% increase from 2022/23 which is an extra £1.7m for education and training programmes for healthcare professionals in Wales; £7.14m extra for medical training places, an extra £1.68m to support core GP training numbers and a net increase of £3.41m for pharmacy training across Wales. This will continue to be a record level of funding to support the highest ever number of training opportunities in Wales.

A well-trained NHS workforce with the right skills is essential to providing a sustainable high-quality care to people across Wales and improving standards in our health service.

I am proud of this government’s record on investing in education and training to support and sustain the health workforce across Wales. The NHS has more people working in it than at any time in its history, all aimed at prevention and care for members of society, across every community in Wales.

The Welsh Government remains committed to providing the NHS with the workforce it needs and these additional training places will increase the capacity of the workforce to help the NHS respond to the challenges facing it in the future.

Over the past five years nurse training places have increased by 41.3% and midwives have increased by 41.8%. Tables showing the increase in health professional and medical training places for 2023/24 can be found at Annex A.

Annex A

NHS Wales Education Commissioning and Training Plan for 2023/24

The following tables show the increase in health professional and medical training places for 2023/24.

Speciality	From	To	% Increase
Adult Nursing	1651	1892	14.6%
Mental Health Nursing	410	530	29.2%
Child	175	192	9.7%
Midwifery	185	190	2.7%
Dietetics	66	82	24.2%
Occupational Therapy	179	197	10%
Physiotherapy	174	180	3.4%
PhD Clinical Psychology	36	40	11.1%
Paramedics	116	120	3.4%
Operating Department practitioners	49	62	26.5%
Scientist Training Programme	39	53	36%
Higher Specialist Training	8	10	25%
Cardiac Physiology	23	24	4.3%
Audiology	11	12	9%
Respiratory & Sleep Science	8	14	75%
Neurophysiology	3	4	33%
Life Sciences (Bio Medical Sciences)	24	26	8.3%
Clinical Engineering	6	8	33%
Pre-registration Pharmacy Technicians	83	100	20.5%
Pharmacy Technicians	30	50	66.7%
Secondary Care/Speciality Training	89	92	3.4%
Foundation training	60	69	15%
Physician Associates	52	57	9.6%

Urgent and Emergency Care
Intensive Care Medicine	Increase of 3 higher Training Programme posts (fifth successive year of increases).
Higher Emergency Medicine	To increase by 4 higher posts for 2023, 4 posts for 2024 and 2 posts for 2025. The increases for 2024 and 2025 are required to ensure the pipeline via ACCS EM established in previous workforce plans is aligned to the higher programme.
ACCS Emergency Medicine	To increase by 4 posts for 2023 (2 in North Wales and 2 in South Wales) and by 2 posts for 2024 (South Wales).
Geriatric Medicine	To increase by 5 posts each year for 3 years commencing in 2023. These recommendations will be reviewed on an annual basis and increased if high recruitment levels into the programme are sustained.
Internal Medicine	To increase by 12 posts for 2023 to maintain the pipeline created following expansion in 2021 and 2022.
Foundation	To increase the number of Foundation Year 1 posts by 39 and Foundation Year 2 posts by 30 for August 2023 as detailed in the Foundation Expansion Business Case.
Cancer Care
Clinical Oncology	Increase by 4 additional Higher Training posts implementing year 3 of the proposal to expand by 4 posts per year for 5 years.
Medical Oncology	Increase by 3 additional Higher Training posts implementing year 3 of the proposal to expand by 3 posts per year for 5 years.
Palliative Medicine	To increase Palliative Medicine training by a further 2 posts for August 2023 as recommended in the 22/23 plan.
Planned Care
General Surgery	Increase by 7 higher posts for 2023.
Trauma & Orthopaedics	To increase by 5 posts in 2023 and then by a further 5 in 2024 and in 2025 (to be reviewed and dependent upon training capacity).
Higher Anaesthetics	Increase of 6 Higher Anaesthetics posts.
Dermatology	To increase by 3 posts in 2023 and by 3 posts in 2024.
Rheumatology	To increase by 2 posts for 2023 as recommended in the 22/23 plan.
Neurology	To increase by 3 posts for 2023.
Diabetes & Endocrinology	To increase by 1 post in 2023 and a further post in 2024.
Diagnostic specialties & Health promotion/prevention
Medical Microbiology/ Infectious Diseases	Increase of 3 Medical Microbiology/Infectious Diseases posts implementing year 4 of a plan to increase posts every year for 5 years.
Clinical Radiology	To support the recommended expansion as required to appoint 20 trainees for the 2023 intake into the South Wales programme.
Clinical Neurophysiology	To increase by 1 post in 2023 and then by a further post in 2024.
Public Health Medicine	To increase by 3 posts as recommended in the 22/23 plan.
Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (CPT)	To increase by 1 post in 2023.
Mental Health
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry	No increase to the higher programme for 2023 but to monitor demand and act accordingly. To pilot 2 new innovative ST1 run through posts for 2023.
Old age psychiatry	To increase by 2 posts for 2023 and a further 2 for 2024 as recommended in the 22/23 plan.
General Adult Psychiatry	To increase by 2 posts in North Wales in 2023. Increases will be recommended for South Wales in the 24/25 plan if current vacancies are filled.
Forensic Psychiatry	To increase by 1 post for 2023 to enable the creation of a North Wales programme.
Core psychiatry	To increase by 8 posts in 2023 and a further 8 posts in 2024 to maintain the pipeline created through the initial expansion in the 22/23 plan.

February 9, 2023

Dawn Bowden – 2023 Update on the Fusion Programme

The statement made by Dawn Bowden, the Welsh Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, on 11 January 2023.

Fusion: Creating Opportunities through Culture programme was established as a key component in the Welsh Government’s response to Baroness Andrew’s Culture and Poverty report published in 2014. Fusion seeks to align and focus resources, services, and programmes from a wide range of sectors and organisations. The programme concentrates on helping those communities experiencing economic disadvantage and who may have traditionally faced barriers to participating in cultural activities.

Now in its eighth year, the Welsh Government has led Fusion since 2015, in partnership with the cultural and heritage sector, including Amgueddfa Cymru and the Arts Council of Wales as both operational and delivery partners. We are currently working with nine local authorities across Wales to provide cultural opportunities tailored to the needs of local communities, providing training, volunteering, and other opportunities. However, for the programme to become more sustainable it needs to adapt to the new challenges that have arisen since its inception.

I am pleased to confirm that ARAD has been appointed to carry out an independent study of Fusion’s current delivery model and the extent to which it has supported and enabled the Programme to achieve its overall aims. The review will build on the previous Theory of Change work completed in July 2022 and together they will shape the future aims of the Programme, including the potential to extend the programme across Wales. I will consider the recommendations provided on next steps, including a preferred delivery model to support the Programme in its future direction.

ARAD will work closely with stakeholders over the coming months before providing officials with recommendations in February 2023. I will provide a further update following the conclusion of the review.

February 9, 2023
Vaughan Gething – 2023 Statement on the Appointment of new Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales

The statement made by Vaughan Gething, the Welsh Minister for the Economy, on 11 January 2023.

Following a very competitive process, I am very pleased to announce our new Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales, Professor Jas Pal Badyal FRS. He will become Wales’ fourth lead advisor on science.

Professor Badyal is a distinguished Chemist, currently holding a Chair at the University of Durham. He was elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society in 2016 and enjoys a truly global reputation.

He is particularly recognised for his work on the functionalisation of solid surfaces and deposition of functional nanolayers. His cutting-edge chemical research has many and varied real-world applications – from antibacterial medical applications to making water-repellent coatings for smart phones – from fog-harvesting to providing clean water in developing countries, to prevention of fouling on buildings and marine surfaces. He has a strong understanding of the challenges surrounding the translation of research discoveries into commercial opportunities. Professor Badyal’s insight and advice will be a welcome addition to strengthening the role R&D can play in taking forward our Programme for Government commitments.

I look forward to welcoming and working with Professor Badyal who is expected to take up his post early this year.

February 9, 2023
Jane Hutt – 2023 Statement on Meeting with Energy Suppliers

The statement made by Jane Hutt, the Welsh Minister for Social Justice, on 4 January 2023.

People across Wales are facing an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis, fuelled by soaring energy, fuel and food costs The cost-of-living crisis is having a devastating impact, particularly on low-income households. Current estimates suggest up to 45% of all households in Wales could be in fuel poverty following increases to the energy price cap.

The Welsh Government is doing all it can to support households in Wales, filling the gap left by the UK government. We have allocated £90m to provide support to vulnerable households to meet rising energy costs. This includes a second Welsh Government Fuel Support Scheme in 2022-23 and we are working in partnership with the Fuel Bank Foundation to deliver a £4m fuel voucher scheme aimed at those on prepayment meters and those off the gas grid. The Welsh Government has also made additional funding available to the Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF) this financial year to help people who are struggling financially with support for off-grid households.

Free impartial advice is available to all households via our Warm Homes Programme Nest scheme. An enhanced winter fuel campaign commenced on 1 November, targeting a wider audience with much needed energy efficiency advice and guidance. This service is accessible to all. Where eligible, households may be entitled to a package of energy efficiency support. The Minister for Climate Change has made a number of improvements to the Warm Homes Programme Nest Scheme this year investing in innovation through solar PV and exploration of battery storage enabling homes to use energy at source.

However, there is a responsibility on the energy suppliers to provide appropriate support for their customers. I am deeply concerned, as more households fall behind with the payment of their electricity and gas bills, they may be unfairly driven onto pre-payment meters.

Approximately 200,000 households in Wales use pre-payment meters for their mains gas and electricity. This represents approximately 15% of all households and 24% of tenants in the private rented sector. Almost half of social housing tenants (45%) also use pre-payment meters. Many of these bill payers are on the lowest incomes yet are paying the highest tariffs for their energy.

On 22 November, Ofgem published their own findings into how energy suppliers are helping customers through this period of high energy prices. In their deep dive, Ofgem explored how suppliers treat ‘Customers in a Vulnerable Situation’.

Findings showed that, although some good practice was identified, all suppliers need to make further improvements. Severe weaknesses were found in five suppliers, moderate weaknesses were found in another five suppliers and minor weaknesses were found in seven suppliers.

On 21 and 29 November and 7 December, I met with representatives from a number of energy suppliers to discuss the issues surrounding pre-payment meters and the cost-of-living crisis.

I was told by the suppliers that moving householders onto pre-payments meters was seen as a last resort, and whilst there was a perception pre-payment meters are linked to debt, some suppliers stated the majority of their pre-payment customers used the meters as a tool to control usage.

Suppliers confirmed to me they try to actively engage with their customers before a pre-payment meter is considered and, in most cases, there is a lengthy process to follow before one is installed, in agreement with the householder. There are measures in place to determine who is considered to be appropriate for a pre-payment meter

Energy suppliers agreed to share with the Welsh Government data on the number of households being supported with their energy bills and/or being transferred onto pre-payments meters, and the reason for doing so, in order for my officials to assess the situation. They also agreed to provide information on ‘self-disconnection’. This is vitally important to allow us to understand the nature of self-disconnection, and to design policy responses.

Not all energy suppliers have standing charges for pre-payment meters. Some of those who currently apply a standing charge agreed to hold further discussions regarding the removal of standing charges. The removal of standing charges was also something I raised again with Ofgem in a meeting on 29 November.

We have made it clear that energy companies should absorb the cost of standing charges for pre-payment customers who are particularly at risk of disconnection as a result of the rising cost of fuel. This should not be a cost for the Government to take on.

It is important we identify and support customers who are starting to struggle as early as possible. Energy suppliers have advised they can provide their customers along with other support mechanisms, such as funds set aside to help those who are struggling the most to pay their bills and flexible payment plans.

Following a meeting with Ofgem on 29 November, I remain concerned that a worryingly large number of householders on a traditional pre-payment meter have not used their vouchers as these have a 90-day expiry date. It is important these householders use their vouchers. I would also encourage customers in vulnerable situations to contact their energy supplier to register themselves as vulnerable.

Welsh Government has consistently called on the UK Government and Ofgem to introduce a social tariff to protect the most vulnerable householders and there was broad support for this from energy suppliers.

I will be holding a follow up meeting with energy suppliers in the new year, followed by quarterly meetings. I will seek further assurances that the weaknesses identified by Ofgem are being addressed and continue to push for the greatest levels of support for the most vulnerable in our society.

This statement is being issued during recess in order to keep members informed. Should members wish me to make a further statement or to answer questions on this when the Senedd returns I would be happy to do so.

February 9, 2023