Responding to the Environment Minister’s letter to AMs today about the boiler scrappage scheme, Welsh Conservative AM Alun Cairns said:
“There is very little new in this letter that the minister didn’t say on Wednesday. The fact remains that for the foreseeable future people in Wales will not be able to benefit from a scheme already running in England.
“Many energy companies in England have decided to match the UK Government’s commitment. There is no guarantee they’ll want to do so in Wales because of the Assembly Government’s determination to be different.
“While we welcome moves to tackle fuel poverty, many of the fuel poor the minister says she wants to help will be living in rented accommodation and therefore will not own their own boiler. This means the private sector rental market could be the real beneficiaries, not those on short term tenancy agreements.
“The Assembly Government continues to drag its feet on this issue. I often think they want to change things just for the sake of changing them.
“By not adopting the English scheme the Assembly Government risks additional administrative and advertising costs, as well as confusing Welsh householders.”
