Ellen Nicholson, Lib Dem candidate for Mount Hermon and Woking South East in the local elections on 6th May, is demanding a fair pay rise for NHS and social care workers.
Surrey County Council unanimously agreed a motion from the Lib Dems today which would see the Council look at holding meetings remotely after lockdown as finished.
Today is Young Carers Action Day, and this evening Bedford Town Bridge and Riverside Bridge have been lit up purple, the colour of the campaign, to mark the occasion. You can see more photos of the bridges this evening on Mayor Dave Hodgson's Facebook page here.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill passed the Second Reading tonight in Parliament. Liberal Democrats Home Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said:
The long awaited construction of the new Wellington Parade Garden is imminent after the city council signed the contract with the company who will build it. The new layout has been through public consultation exercise. The garden was closed and boarded up in 2018 at the request of local residents who were fed up with the anti-social behaviour of street drinkers that congregated in a large group and got drunk and misbehaved. Lib Dem councillor Jeremy Hilton said: "I am delighted at long last the work to create the new garden is imminent. It was a long tortious process, which was delayed by the council making a grant application to the Great Western Railways Community Fund that was eventually turned down. "The new layout has been designed to discourage people congregating there and getting drunk and misbehaving. I hope it works. "The garden is a key focal point on London Road, which is in a conservation area and one of the main routes into the city centre. "Last year at budget setting the Lib Dems secured fundi
Guildford Liberal Democrats are pleased to announce our Guildford Borough area candidates for the Surrey County Council Elections on 6th May.
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!”
