There was confusion this week over the funding and timescales for repair work to be carried out on homes affected by the Arbed insulation scandal in Caerau.
It follows recent seemingly contradictory statements from the Minister for Climate Change, Julie James MS (Lab), and Bridgend Council.
In an interview for BBC Wales’ Politics Wales programme last Sunday (11th December) – about 9:20 in on iPlayer – the Minister said the funding “had already been released” for the repair work which “should have started right now”.
However, in a report presented to Bridgend Council a few weeks ago, it was said that delays in decision-making at Welsh Government level meant funding wouldn’t be available until the 2023-24 financial year (from next April) at the earliest.
This was followed up in a written statement given to the Bridgend Political Owl podcast – which recently discussed the Arbed situation with an affected resident.
Council Leader, Cllr. Huw David (Lab, Pyle, Kenfig Hill, Cefn Cribwr), said the council “was yet to receive a formal grant offer from the Welsh Government”.
Chief Executive: Council has “certainly not received the funding”; work expected to be delayed until May 2023
At this month’s full council meeting, the Chief Executive, Mark Shephard, moved to clarify the council’s side of the story.
Councillors were told that while the business case has been formally approved by the Welsh Government, the council were awaiting terms and conditions confirmation (expected “before Christmas”). The council “has certainly not received the funding”.
He went on to say that he believed the Minister’s comments were “a misunderstanding” and too much was being read into it.
The original timescales have, nevertheless, changed.
Originally, internal and external insulation was to be removed in November 2022, but this has been pushed back to May 2023. Similarly, new insulation now isn’t expected to be installed until November or December 2023.
