Liberal Democrat Food Waste motion to Council
Birmingham's Liberal Democrat Council Group have put the following motion to the Council for debate on Tuesday 9 January.
3 Jan 2018
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Annual Commemoration for Sir John Moore
The Chairman and Trustees of the Shorncliffe Trust cordially invite you to the annual commemoration for Sir John Moore taking place at his Memorial on Sandgate Esplanade on Saturday, 13th January 2018 at 09.45am.
3 Jan 2018
The Brexit threat to UK air services and EU Open Skies
The lack of progress on the commercial air transport aspects of Brexit negotiations could result in chaos for the UK air transport industry, passengers and UK trade unless addressed very quickly. Airline planning cycles take at least two years to develop. Schedules for winter 2018/2019 have to be filed in April 2018 at the twice yearly International Air Transport Association (IATA) Schedules Conference, and those for summer 2019, by September 2018, less than a year away. That means knowing and planning networks, frequency, capacity and detailed schedules now so the requisite fleets and resources can be identified, sourced, crews trained, slots confirmed, maintenance schedules aligned and services marketed.
3 Jan 2018
Police precept - twelve pounds to keep our coppers
The government has recently announced that the restriction on increases to the police part of the council tax is to be eased this year. This could mean a reduction in the rate of cuts to the force, though we will be paying via our council tax bills. By paying more locally we're also indirectly funding other parts of the country which get higher grants from central government. A consultation, which won't affect the decision to make the increase, is underway.
3 Jan 2018
Walking in Wiltshire
If you walked all of Wiltshire's footpaths, bridleways and byways you'd have travelled 3,850 miles - equivalent to walking to Istanbul and back. In fact walking to Turkey might be easier because according to the Ramblers less than half of Wiltshire's network is easily passable. Some routes are blocked by barbed wire, many stiles and gates are in poor condition, and signposts have rotted away due to neglect.
2 Jan 2018
700 homes across Wiltshire left empty for years
700 homes in the county have been sitting empty for two years or more, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.
2 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!”
