People with learning disabilities are trying to raise awareness of their condition by brewing beer. Spotlight Brewing has been set up in an outbuilding at a residential care home in Snaith, near Goole, East Yorkshire. As well as providing work experience for the residents, the company has named its range of beers after different disabilities.
Charities training support dogs for children with autism are calling for more regulation after figures revealed a quadrupling in requests for help. The charities collectively recorded 3,795 inquiries in 2017 - compared with 946 in 2012. They said demand for the free dogs meant longer waiting lists for desperate families who may instead turn to unaccredited paid-for alternatives. The government said it wanted to create a UK standard. Assistance dogs are trained to provide companionship and help children with autism remain safe and calm and in busy situations.
Northern Rail has apologised after a passenger who is disabled was told she could not travel with her mobility scooter despite being sold a ticket. The 31-year-old, who has autism and the debilitating Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, filmed her experience on board a train on her way to a wedding on Thursday.
A 10-year-old disabled boy was made to prove he had a disability when an airline's administrative error put his flight in jeopardy, says his mother.
Local MP Tim Farron has called for lower caps on deposits for rents to help combat an increase in the number of homeless people in the South Lakes.
Liberal Democrat councillors have questioned Gloucestershire County Council's decision to close its household recycling centres one day a week. The Conservative-run county council has announced from the end of October changes to the opening hours of the five household recycling centres it owns. These are Fosse Cross near Cirencester, Hempsted in Gloucester, Wingmoor Farm at Bishops Cleeve, Pyke Quarry near Horsley and Oak Quarry near Coleford. They currently open at 9am and close at 6.15pm 12 months a year. From October 28 the five sites, which are run by Ubico Ltd, will be open from 10am until 4pm and from March they revert to the new summer opening hours of 9am to 5pm. But each centre will close one day a week, all year round. Councillor Jeremy Hilton, the Liberal Democrat waste spokesman at Shire Hall, said: "It is entirely sensible to reduce the opening hours of the household recycling centres during the winter as people don't want to be recycling their waste in the dark. "But to permanently close each re
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, called on the government to provide incentives for energy providers to develop solar power in the UK.
Mrs Hobhouse slammed the government for falling behind on meeting the UK’s renewable targets for solar energy capacity. The government plans to deploy 70 GW of solar power across the country by 2035. However, as of 2022, the UK had only installed 14.3 GW of solar pv.
Following a visit to a rooftop solar system installed by Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) at Beechen Cliff School last year, Wera Hobhouse is keen to encourage the development of similar solar projects across Bath. The solar system is predicted to significantly cut the school’s fuel costs and reduce their carbon emissions by 52 tonnes a year.
In the House of Commons on the 27th February, the Bath MP noted that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in renewable energy investment, she urged the government to offer incentives to energy providers to improve solar capacity.
However, Andrew Bowie, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, ignored Hobhouse’s proposals, failing to describe the ways in which the government could incentivise solar energy. Instead, Bowie said that the government’s Solar Taskforce would publish recommendations for solar power and reiterated the government’s target to deploy 70 GW by 2035.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, commented:
“The Conservatives are falling dangerously behind on meeting our targets for renewable energy production. It is no good the government setting an ambitious 70 GW solar target if they are nowhere near reaching it.
“It is clear that they have no plan to get us back on track to reach Net Zero. Evidently, they are more than happy to dismiss perfectly good proposals like incentivising solar power. That is why I am so proud that Bath is home to many community energy projects like the solar system at Beechen Cliff School, so that we can lead the way in renewables.”
“It is not just our climate targets harmed by the Conservatives’ delay. Families in Bath and across the country are struggling to pay soaring energy bills which investment in renewables could curb. That is why we Liberal Democrats would build significantly more renewable energy, aiming to generate 80% of our electricity from renewables by 2030.”
Peter Capener, Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy said:
“Our work with schools is really demonstrating the value of community energy in both addressing the climate crisis and reducing fuel bills. Rooftop solar installed last year has already saved local schools a combined total of £134,209 and has reduced carbon emissions by 224.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to 12,173 journeys from Bath to Edinburgh by train!”
