WIREDGOV

Carl Sargeant, the Minister for Natural Resources will today visit a home in Cardiff which has benefitted from free energy efficiency improvements, as the Nest scheme reaches the 17,000th home in Wales to benefit from the Welsh Government’s flagship fuel poverty scheme.

The visit coincides with the publication of an independent evaluation report into the £100m programme, which shows that advice and support has been provided to more than 61,000 householders to help them heat their homes more effectively.

Nest is also supporting the creation of local businesses, jobs and apprenticeships, tackling fuel poverty and climate change in the process.

Today the Minister for Natural Resources popped in to speak with Mr and Mrs Swambo at their house in St Mellons, to see how the scheme had improved things for them.

The Minister said:

“Tackling fuel poverty is one of our primary commitments and it’s fantastic to see first-hand the difference that our Nest scheme is making. It’s producing estimated annual energy savings of £7.48m for those homes we’ve been able to help so far, providing advice and support to thousands more and is making an invaluable contribution to the wider goal of tackling climate change by making homes more energy efficient.

“In addition, the knock-on effect to the wider community in terms of providing employment and skills is fantastic. As we celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, it’s particularly pleasing to note the number of apprenticeships created across Wales thanks to this scheme.

“It was great to meet Mr and Mrs Swambo and their personal experience of Nest is further testimony to the difference it’s making to the quality of life of so many.”

Mr Swambo said:

“I couldn’t believe we qualified, we made the phone call because our Service Engineer said it would be worth a try and have ended up saving almost £250 a year thanks to the scheme.” 

Mrs Swambo added:

‘’Everyone has been so helpful and I had to send in a thank you letter, the boys at MVR worked so hard, I am so glad we had we have really noticed the difference during the colder months.”