Local Liberal Democrat Police and Crime Commissioner candidate Paul Kennedy is calling for a return to proper community policing, as half of all people say they never see police patrols in their local area.
I spent my early life in care, and so have experienced many of the injustices I would like to see righted. My mum went into the...
The atmosphere is said to be "TOXIC" amongst Surrey council Tories Following the publication of the list of candidates for this year's Surrey County Council elections, it has emerged that 25 out of 56 Conservative county councillors are stepping down - a dropout rate of 45%. The decision of so many Tory county councillors to leave office comes less than a year after the County Council was heavily criticised for wasting £250,000 on a failed bid to become a unitary authority by abolishing Surrey's borough and district councils. The County Council is widely regarded as an out-of-touch authority, which cannot get the basic services like repairing local roads and pavements right. Chris Botten, Lib Dem Group Leader on Surrey County Council, said: "I am shocked to see that so many Conservative councillors are retiring, including some very senior cabinet or former cabinet members. There is no doubt that being a county councillor is an onerous responsibility, but the Tory-run council has alienated colleagues in boro
Paul is the Lib Dem candidate for PCC in Surrey I'm offering a fresh approach to policing and crime in Surrey - based on my extensive professional and community leadership experience, and my commitment as a Liberal Democrat to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, upheld by the rule of law.
Local Liberal Democrat Police and Crime Commissioner candidate Loraine Birchall is calling for a return to proper community policing, after it was revealed that two in every three burglary cases in Cumbria went unsolved last year.
Inpatient beds at the new Sunderland Eye Infirmary will fall from 22 to just 8.
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!”
