Surrey's roads put ahead of Spelthorne's flood defences, schools and surgeries Tories have recommended spending £5m of this levy to plug Surrey County Council's continued underinvestment in roads above the needs of Spelthorne's Schools and Doctors Surgeries, which desperately need funding
You would think that one of the prime responsibilities for a council is to communicate with its residents and yet, at the Full Council Meeting of Runnymede Borough on 4th March 2021, a document was signed off by the Conversative administration that commits to minimal engagement with residents who live in Runnymede.
For several years now I have taken part in Veganuary, a month of trying out the vegan diet during January, hence the play on words.
Lib Dem's are showing themselves to be the best at tackling the climate and ecological emergencies while the @Conservatives have once again decided not to invest in increasing recycling rates. This fact is based on the new @DefraGovUK figures that show the @LibDems lead four out of five of the councils with the highest #recycling rates. In comparison Conservative led Wiltshire Council's current recycling, reuse and composting rate is just 45% (end of March 2020). Their contractor Hills Waste Solutions manage and collect all the waste and recycling from Wiltshire residents. Hills Waste are also submitted in partnership with Northacre Renewable Energy (NREL) the revised and highly controversial plans for an incinerator at Westbury. Seems Hills Waste and NREL don't have a drive to improve their rcycling rates. Vote Lib Dem in the local elections if you want your area to be the #BestatRecycling
What is it about Bristol? When it was a Lib Dem city in the run-up to the tobacco advertising and marketing ban in the UK, it led the grassroots campaign against cigarette ads and local doctors turning out in February 2003 to help council staff tear them down.
Liberal Democrats Spokesperson for Health and Social Care Munira Wilson MP is calling for a real-terms pay rise for NHS workers after going above and beyond in a national crisis:
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!”
