Jessica Morden
Main Page: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
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Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)
I rise to speak about fuel poverty in Wales. Fuel poverty is defined as when 10% or more of a household income is spent on fuel. Wales has the highest rate of fuel poverty in the whole UK, with 420,000 households, which is 30%, in fuel poverty. To put that in perspective, the figure compares with just 11% in the south-east, so that for Wales is nearly three times higher. The ward in Wales with the highest rate of fuel poverty is Rhyl West, which is in my constituency. The ward with the 10th highest rate is Rhyl South West, where I have many relatives, in which I grew up on a big council estate.
In Rhyl West, 900 hotels and guest houses have been turned over to houses in multiple occupation, and the landlords have made no investment to insulate and improve those homes. They have made money out of misery, charging £85 a week in housing benefit for substandard homes. That is a big problem in my constituency and in Wales.
There is a perfect storm, because disposable income in Wales is going down and fuel bills are going up. Since 2010, the average household fuel bill has gone up by £300 a year. In the past year alone, it has gone up by 7%, and over the next two years, it will rise by a further 7%.
Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)
Does my hon. Friend agree that many of our constituents’ disposable incomes will be hit even harder by the impact of the bedroom tax in April, when people will be forced to choose between heating their homes or cutting down on food in order to pay the extra rent?
Chris Ruane
I agree entirely and will come to that issue shortly. The TUC in Wales reports that Wales has the lowest levels of disposable income, but the highest falls in living standards. The situation is going to get worse, as my hon. Friend rightly said, because council tax for the poorest will be introduced, although the Welsh Government have mitigated the effect of that by setting aside £22 million for the next year to stop the rise hitting the poorest. Owing to the bedroom tax, someone who has lived in their council house for 50 years but does not want to move, because they love their house and community, will have to find an additional £25 a week. The benefits freeze of 1% could result in people on benefits actually freezing. There is also wage stagflation in Wales.
At the same time, the Government and their allies are giving £44,000 a year extra to a person who earns £1 million a year. The total package is worth £3 billion. Imagine what good work could be done if that money were used to employ unemployed people to insulate the homes of the poorest and most vulnerable.