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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the meeting held on the 15th June 2026 as an accurate record.
RESOLVED: • To scrutinise the progress made during the first year of the Affordable Warmth Strategy (2025-2030), including the investment secured, interventions delivered and outcomes achieved for residents in reducing fuel poverty, improving energy efficiency and supporting the transition towards net zero.
The Chair welcomed Members and Officers to the meeting. The Chair also welcomed a new Member to the Committee, Cllr Clarke, and thanked the previous Member, Cllr Rogers, for his commitment and dedication to the Committee.
The Members Researcher and Scrutiny Officer referenced the research facilities that were available to Members within the Council Business Unit. Members were advised that if they have any specific queries to email them to the Council’s scrutiny team who would accommodate their requests.
In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, the following personal declarations of interest were made: Item 4: Cllr Powell: “I am a gas registered engineer and the energy efficiency aspect of agenda item 4 is something I have a personal interest in” Cllr Clarke: “I have one declaration of interest which is that my wife and I rent a property and this scheme is available to private rented properties so it is possible that the scheme may apply to us in the future” Cllr Gareth Jones: “I had a grant for solar insulation a few years ago” Cllr Middle: “I am the Director of a company that is in the private rented sector” “
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the meeting held on the 15th June 2026 as an accurate record.
It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the meeting held on the 15th June 2026 as an accurate record.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: • To scrutinise the progress made during the first year of the Affordable Warmth Strategy (2025-2030), including the investment secured, interventions delivered and outcomes achieved for residents in reducing fuel poverty, improving energy efficiency and supporting the transition towards net zero.
The Head of Housing Strategy and Investment presented the report to Members in respect of the progress made in the first year of the Affordable Warmth Strategy 2025-2030. Following the overview, the Chair invited questions from Members. A number of Members thanked Officers for providing such a detailed report. A Member sought data as to how the Council will measure its success in bringing households out of fuel poverty. The Member questioned if the Council has data to show how many households were in fuel poverty prior to the scheme starting and how many households are in fuel poverty now. The Member was advised that in the first year the aim is to get the grants out to residents and that the Council would be aiming to have this comparative data by the end of the 5 year Strategy. Another Member noted that two areas have been targeted; Penrhiwceiber and Rhondda Fach and questioned if there were any other areas throughout the County Borough where households are living in fuel poverty that the Council would like to also target during the Strategy. The Member also noted that the grants are given to contractors to do the work and questioned whether the Council is monitoring whether the prices being charged is a fair amount or whether they are being. Members were advised that the Council would like to do more targeted work but that this will depend on the funding that is available from Welsh Government. The Officer confirmed that Welsh Government have just announced that there is funding available and the Council intends to put forward an application using the data they already have to propose new targeted areas. In respect of contractors, Members were advised that the Council doesn not have a framework for assessing contractors and emphasised that the contractor is usually found by the resident themselves using the grants that are on offer through the Council. However, the Officer advised that through the Welsh Government there are only specific contractors that can be used and they are quality assured by OFGEM and any issues that are raised by the resident then the Council will try to support the resident to raise those issues via OFGEM. The Member subsequently queried if the cost of the work was being monitored by the Council. It was confirmed that there is no framework for costs but that the Council does ensure that the work that is delivered does fit within the criteria of the grant that is being offered. Discussions ensued and a Member referred Officers to section 6.3 of the report and sought confirmation that the report could be correct in terms of the figure referring to the total savings to residents as this doesn’t appear to add up correctly. The Member was advised that this would be actioned. The Member further referred to the various data and statistics within the report and recommended that going forward it would be useful for Scrutiny to receive annual reports outlining what the target areas were and what has actually been achieved within a certain timeframe. The Member also recommended that going forward it would be really useful to receive data on the number of homes that are impacted and the number of people taken out of fuel poverty as a result of the scheme. The Member was advised by Officers that it can be difficult to get household data and that this request has been put forward to Welsh Government and it is hoped that they will reflect upon this going forward. Members were also advised that in future the team would also like to share feedback from residents / case studies who have received the grants. The Member continued and referred Officers to section 6.2 of the report and letters sent primarily to residents in the Rhondda Fach to raise awareness of the NEST scheme and queried whether the Council follows this up with residents and sought clarification on how successful household targeting is in taking residents out of fuel poverty through the NEST scheme. Officers confirmed that this data has been requested from Welsh Government. In respect of the letters that went out to households promoting the scheme, a Member questioned if these letters would also have gone out to Social Landlords. The Officer confirmed that this information will need to be checked and that a response will be sent out to Committee Members following the meeting. Discussions ensued and a Member recommended that it would be useful for Committee Members to have a Map outlining the areas in the County Borough of homes that have an energy efficiency rating of D or lower, The Member also sought clarification as to what technical input was available to the Council before they started rolling out these schemes and questioned whether bigger savings could have been made to residents through using different methods. As an example, the Member referred to section 6.3 and noted that the Council delivered 83 Heating Grants to homes in RCT through the Shared Prosperity Funding, with approximately £363k invested in heating improvements and an average saving to residents of £34,511. The Member noted that it will take ten years to actually get the saving per household on the current cost of the energy which they are using. The Member also referred to the 34 grants as part of the targeted area-based activity in Penrhiwceiber with over £152k invested in energy efficiency improvements and noted that it would be useful to have the detail of what actual improvements were made and detail on the average savings for future comparison. The Member also asked for greater detail on the other schemes noted in the report such as extra detail on the locations, nature of the improvements carried out and projected cost or energy savings so that these can be compared and assessed to see if they were value for money at a later date. The Chair summarised these points and agreed that comparative data and measurable figures would be useful so that Scrutiny Members can use this data to compare figures and measure success in future reports. The Chair also requested data on a ward by ward basis. The Head of Housing Strategy and Investment Officer advised Members that there is further data that can be brought to Committee and that data can be provided at ward level. It was confirmed that, apart from Penrhiwceiber, the Council has not yet done much targeting work in year one. Year two would be to do more community engagement work and advised that the team have just employed more members of staff and a graduate officer and that the aim is for staff to be more visible in the community. It is hoped that year two will be more targeted interventions that will then be reflected in the data. Subsequent to this, a Member queried if, within the team, there is a member of staff who has the qualifications to assess energy efficiency. The Housing Strategy Officer confirmed that she is a domestically qualified energy assessor and that she has also recently received a qualification from the National Energy Assistance and gave reassurance to Members that Officers do challenge if needed where an installation is being suggested or recommended and that the team do not think its suitable for the property because it may push that individual further into financial poverty. The Officer also reassured Members that in drawing the Strategy together all of the team’s technical expertise was included in the original basis for the Strategy. Discussions ensued and a Member queried how the Council is getting to households who are experiencing fuel poverty but hav not yet come forward for assistance. Members were advised that the team has not yet looked at targeted work and that at this stage the team are noting the grants but that targeting work is something they are looking to do in the future. Another Member queried if the Council have learned any lessons from the work in Penrhiwceiber and what are the team looking to do with the scheme in future years. Members were advised that the team has recently started to become more visible in the community and attend more community events. The team will also start to look at ‘community champions’ to share the information wider and raise awareness. The Member also suggested reaching out through Town and Community Councils. Following discussions, Members RESOLVED: • To scrutinise the progress made during the first year of the Affordable Warmth Strategy (2025-2030), including the investment secured, interventions delivered and outcomes achieved for residents in reducing fuel poverty, improving energy efficiency and supporting the transition towards net zero.
There was no urgent business.
The Chair summarised the main points that Members would like Officers to address in a future meeting and also thanked Members and Officers for engaging in a constructive discussion. The Chair reminded Members that the next meeting will be held on the 14th October 2026.
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