Decision details

Note: Having earlier declared an interest (Minute No. 49), County Borough Councillor R. Lewis left the meeting for this item.

The Director, Prosperity and Development provided the Cabinet with the report, which set out the Council’s proposed Fuel Poverty Strategy for 2019-2023. The Director advised that the purpose of the strategy was to provide a framework for all fuel poverty activity to provide an evidenced based, co-ordinated and collaborative approach to decrease the number of households who are living in or who are at risk of fuel poverty in the borough and to reduce carbon emissions.

Members were referred to the three key objectives of the Strategy, which were outlined at Section 5 of the report and were pleased to learn that the strategy would seek to mitigate the effects on residents, whilst contributing to the Council’s Corporate Plan priorities.

The Cabinet Member for Enterprise, Development & Housing spoke of the need for national intervention and the deprivation experienced in some local communities with the increase in tariffs, which cause residents to make a choice between ‘eating or heating’. The Cabinet Member continued by speaking of the community hubs and how they could be used to help communicate with the local communities.

The Leader spoke of the Valleys Task Force Group and the aim to roll out empty property grants within eleven local authorities. The Leader requested that officers look into developing a scheme, to identify the highly deprived communities in RCT and provide them with funding, which could contribute to the reduction of child poverty. In response to the Leader, the Director spoke of a database, which was currently in use to target households in need but agreed that a strategic approach to establish the larger areas in need would have a positive impact.

The Cabinet Member for Enterprise, Development & Housing spoke of a previous Welsh Government scheme, which targeted homes in need of cladding but resulted in numerous problems. The Cabinet Member was supportive of the Leader’s initiative but asked officers to be mindful of those past mistakes.

The Cabinet RESOLVED to:

1.     To approve the Council’s Fuel Poverty Strategy 2019-2023.

Note: Following the above-mentioned resolution, County Borough Councillor R. Lewis returned to the meeting.