, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Papers to note
Okay. Are Members content? I think that would be a good idea, Sioned. So, we’ll write to the Minister for Climate Change to try and get some clarification on why there has been such a delay to the Warm Homes programme in its latest iteration. Thank you…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Papers to note
There are 10 papers to note. Are Members content to note these papers? Sioned Williams.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Introductions, substitutions and apologies
Prynhawn da. Welcome to the Equality and Social Justice Committee meeting. This is a hybrid meeting, so some Members are here in person and others are joining us online. The meeting is being broadcast live on Senedd.tv, with simultaneous translation from…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
Okay. Thanks.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
What about procurement of food? Clearly, it's something where both of you are procuring substantial amounts of food. They're expanding school meal services. How are you piggy-backing on that discussion?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
But, in your experience, that's not where you've had useful discussions.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
What's the role of the PSBs in all this, because, obviously, you're represented there, as are local authorities and other bodies? So, isn't this a place where you could be sharing best practice and identifying that?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
Okay. But you're relying on them to drive this forward, yes?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
Isn't that your role—you guys? You're all very senior people.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
Okay. All right. So, what can we do to accelerate this process, given we've got an emergency?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
Because, if you don't present a business case to Welsh Government, they're not going to be able to evaluate and say, 'Go ahead'.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
Okay. So, are health boards restricted by capacity, or other things they're firefighting, so that they can't do this, or what are the main barriers to making more progress on this?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
But also, there's potential for partnerships with private bodies that are currently generating a lot of heat, but it's only heating the birds. Clearly, Celsa Steel down the road is one of them, but there are lots of other examples that could be used. Is that…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
Okay, because, obviously, health boards, and the public need to see what the—. But the Morriston one was installed in 2021, so there must've been quite a long lead-up period. How come all the other hospitals weren't saying, 'What a great idea', you know…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
Okay. Will they be published?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
Okay. So, they haven't been published yet.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP)
Thank you. Morriston Hospital was the first hospital in the UK to have photovoltaics to kick-start the energy in the hospital. It seems a very obvious thing to do, with minimum disruption to patients. So, it wouldn't be suitable in the Heath, because it's…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)
That's for another day. But loan schemes for housing, surely.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)
Loan schemes, then.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)
Okay. Clearly, on that, the role of the private sector is really important in getting the 40 per cent of people who own their homes outright, whether as landlords or occupiers—. There doesn't seem to enough awareness amongst the public, despite the…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)
I just wanted to go back to invest-to-save as a strategy. It's very easy, amidst the cost-of-living crisis, to propose Elastoplast situations over a crisis, but how effectively do you think your local authority is working with local government to look at…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)
That's fine.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)
Yes.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)
Okay, thank you. Thank you for that. That's really interesting. Could I just move us on to whether local authorities are on track to meet key commitments around developing a strategic plan for decarbonising buildings? Amidst the eye-watering energy prices…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Decarbonising the public sector - evidence session with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)
Thank you. So, Andrew, Monmouthshire is definitely leading the way on this. How do we spread that good practice across all 22 local authorities?
