Plastics U-Turn?
It will probably come as little surprise to see the Conservatives in government saying one thing in a highly public forum, then quietly doing the opposite in less public votes.
24 Jan 2018
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Exit From Brexit: We Demand a Vote on the Facts
On Tuesday evening I joined several inspiring local volunteers who braved a cold, wet, dark January day to run the first monthly Brighton & Hove Liberal Democrat EU street stall.
CHHPPC
24 Jan 2018
Caught short
At joint scrutiny and overview budget setting last week, we were asked to pass an item that included the words "examine other potential uses for public toilets".
ER
24 Jan 2018
The values that guide decisions
What Lib Dems believe: in chapter form The following chapter, The Liberal Democrat approach is taken from the Agenda 2020 Working Group's publications and summarises how the Liberal Democrats view the world and decided what courses of action to support. It was principally authored by Duncan Brack.
23 Jan 2018
MP urges Government to stop dragging its feet over broadband speed promise
Local MP Tim Farron has written to the Leader of the House of Commons to urge the Government to get on with fulfilling its promise of providing universal high-speed broadband.
23 Jan 2018
Mayor Dave: Walk-In Centre Closure is 'Unacceptable', and Situation 'Beggars Belief'
Following the publication of an update report by Bedfordshire CCG prior to its Governing Body meeting on Thursday 25th January, Mayor Dave Hodgson has slammed the closure of Putnoe Walk-In Centre as 'unacceptable', addiing that the uncertainty over ongoing walk-in care in Bedford 'beggars belief'.
23 Jan 2018
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!”
