‘Use windfall tax to insulate Welsh homes,’ call to PM
Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader has called on the UK Government to use a windfall tax on oil and gas companies to fund a “street-by-street insulation programme” to improve the energy efficiency of the Welsh housing stock.
Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts said that a refusal to invest in home insulation now would “lock households into decades of poverty while fossil fuel companies continue to make grotesque profits”, and urged the Prime Minister Liz Truss to “seriously consider” Plaid Cymru’s proposals.
“The inefficiency of our housing stock means that households are wasting hundreds of pounds a year on energy that immediately escapes through draughty walls, windows and ceilings,” Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts MP said.
“Energy companies are in effect profiting from huge energy wastage that could very easily be reduced through home insulation. When ordinary people are forced to shoulder the costs of Westminster’s energy plan, this is utterly unacceptable.
“Plaid Cymru are therefore calling on the UK Government to implement a street-by-street insulation programme to improve energy efficiency, paid for by a higher windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
“Increasing the UK Government’s Energy Profits Levy by 20% and removing loopholes would raise £14.3 billion overall and £9.3 billion more than previous estimates. That would easily provide the £3.6 billion of funding required by the UK Government to substantially improve the quality of the Welsh housing stock and bring bills down for good.
“Even before energy prices skyrocketed, the Welsh Future Generations Commissioner estimated that £3.6 billion of investment from the UK Government towards a home insulation programme would help save Welsh households an average of £418 a year on their energy bills. Such investment would also be a boost to the construction industry and to the wider economy.
“A refusal to invest in insulation now will lock households into decades of poverty while fossil fuel companies continue to make grotesque profits. We therefore urge Liz Truss to consider these proposals seriously.”
Energy efficiency
The New Economics Foundation (NEF) has calculated that increasing the UK Government’s Energy Profits Levy by 20 percentage points would raise £9.3bn more than the £5bn it is currently expected to generate in the next 12 months.
Plaid Cymru argues that some of the additional money that would be raised by increasing the levy could go towards an energy efficiency programme, which would require £3.6bn of funding by the UK Government, according to the Welsh Future Generations Commissioner.
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That first picture of Liz should have a caption reading “Up yours”. She has no respect for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
What are the Welsh Govt and the plaid led local councils doing in respect of helping to insulate houses or does Liz SR expect the Uk to do everything as per usual plaid policy