Folkestone and Hythe Christmas Waste Collections
It's Christmas next week and there will be no waste collections on Wednesday 25th or Thursday 26th December.
17 Dec 2019
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Merton's new parking charges - Lib Dem response
Further to Merton Council's announcement: "New parking charges for a new decade set to reduce pollution in Merton." Speaking in...
17 Dec 2019
Christmas Meals for Rough Sleepers
The Bedford Homeless Partnership has published an updated poster with details of all the meals it has been made aware of for rough sleepers and those in need in and around Bedford over Christmas. They have asked local agencies and partners to share the poster to help ensure that those who in need of the meals are made aware.
17 Dec 2019
Council Festive Opening Hours
With festive bank holidays coming up, there are a few changes to Council opening hours and services over the bank holidays.
17 Dec 2019
Plea for help to keep residents safe after more cars burnt out on Thorney Close
Local councillors are urging Northumbria Police's Crime Commissioner to come up with a plan to tackle repeated arson attacks in Thorney Close after a spate of vehicles being torched.
SOB
17 Dec 2019
Brave Defence of Liberal Democrat Values by Sally Symington in South West Hertfordshire
In the context of the 2019 General Election, S W Herts was not a very important constituency. It was not a target seat and the result was expected to be a comfortable Conservative hold. Nevertheless, there was a chance that the Labour vote might weaken. The Liberal Democrats approach was therefore to run a reasonable campaign, consistent with providing support to St Albans - which was a Lib Dem target seat and which was in fact won. The aim in S W Herts was to improve the Liberal Democrat vote share as a foundation to future success.
17 Dec 2019
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!”
