‘Extreme anxiety, anger and distress over fuel poverty’ - older people’s commissioner for Wales

Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter

The older people’s commissioner for Wales called for funding to alleviate the impact of winter fuel payment cuts amid “extreme anxiety, anger and distress” over fuel poverty.

Rhian Bowen-Davies urged the Welsh Government to set up a distinct fund for older people to mitigate against Westminster’s decision to introduce means-testing.

Ms Bowen-Davies, who was appointed for a seven-year term in July, warned the withdrawal of universal winter fuel payments will have a significant impact.

She told the Senedd’s equality committee: “I felt that this decision was the wrong decision… it should have been reversed, I think that opportunity has been missed with the budget.”

She added: “I felt the approach was wrong in terms of it being rushed through and I also felt the timeline was unrealistic for people to apply.”

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‘Inappropriate’

The new older people’s commissioner, who is a former police officer, welcomed the Unite union taking legal action to try to overturn the cuts.

Giving evidence to an inquiry on fuel poverty, she told the committee an estimated 50,000 households in Wales are eligible for pension credit but do not claim the extra income.

Warning the eligibility criteria for the Welsh Government’s discretionary assistance fund is too narrow, she urged ministers to follow the example of Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Ms Bowen-Davies pointed to a £100 payment for all older people in Northern Ireland this winter, with no application needed and a similar scheme set to follow in Scotland.

She raised concerns about the Welsh Government’s refreshed Warm Homes programme, with a lack of boiler repairs leaving some households without heating and hot water.

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‘Huge increase’

She told the committee the boiler replacement scheme has since opened but only until March as she called for a better balance between warm homes and decarbonisation.

Age Cymru highlighted a “huge” 1,144% increase in calls to its advice line about winter fuel payments and a 99% rise for pension credit enquiries from 2023 to 2024.

Ceri Cryer, Age Cymru’s policy adviser, raised similar concerns about the equality impact of an emphasis on heat pumps that are inappropriate for some homes.

She warned the upfront and ongoing costs of heat pumps are beyond many people’s means.

Rebecca Hill, a senior public health specialist at Public Health Wales, expressed concerns about a trend towards older people skipping meals and cutting back on heating.

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‘Extreme anxiety’

Dr Hill said: “We know that colder homes are linked to heart and lung conditions, infectious respiratory illnesses such as flu. We also see higher rates of deaths in cold months … and we know a majority of those deaths accrue amongst our oldest population.”

She also pointed to evidence that older people in colder homes have higher blood pressure and cholesterol, problems with sleep and reduced physical performance, leading to falls.

Ms Bowen-Davies warned older people are experiencing “extreme anxiety, anger and distress" as she called for interim targets in the Welsh Government’s fuel poverty plan.

Raising concerns about the disproportionate impact of the cost-of-living crisis, she pointed out that many older people have to budget for soaring bills from a fixed income.

She told the meeting on December 9: “What older people are saying to me is they are having to make really difficult decisions in terms of how much they are eating on a daily basis and the individual rooms that they are heating.”