Welsh Government misses energy efficiency open goal, says FMB Cymru
Federation of Master Builders
The Welsh Government has failed to see the importance of improving the energy efficiency of our homes, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) Cymru has said in response to the newly issued ‘Programme for Government.’
Ifan Glyn, Director of FMB Cymru, said: “The Welsh Government is missing a trick by omitting any mention of investing in the country’s existing housing stock. It’s our housing that produces one quarter of our current carbon emissions and this is because our homes are among the oldest and leakiest in the developed world. Investing in the refurbishment of our homes might not be as glamorous as other big capital spending projects, such as road, rail or energy projects, but this sort of work requires no planning permission and could start tomorrow – furthermore it would reach every local economy in Wales and provide the Welsh Government with more bang for its buck.”
Glyn continued: “Investing in energy efficiency would also chime well with this Government’s focus on social justice. One in four Welsh households live in fuel poverty, resulting in thousands of homes being forced to choose between going cold or going hungry every winter. By funding a sustained campaign of retrofitting, the Welsh Government would effectively be killing three birds with one stone and would demonstrate to the rest of the UK that investing in energy efficiency is economically, environmentally and socially beneficial.”
Glyn concluded: “We welcome the news that the Welsh Government remains committed to creating 100,000 all age high-quality apprenticeships. When it talks about “promoting green growth to create sustainable jobs for the future”, then construction will be vital to delivering those jobs, particularly given the key infrastructure opportunities that the country has over the next few years. However, we urgently need further details on major policy changes such as the new UK-wide Apprenticeship Levy – this will be collected from large Welsh employers within the next seven months yet the Programme for Government does little to explain how, or indeed if, it will invest the funds from the Levy. Now is the time for concrete commitments, not platitudes.”
