Rugby Borough Council have published their 2018 Air Quality Annual Status Report, detailing changes in air quality in the borough and the actions taken by the council and our partners to manage air quality.
Would you like to win a £2,000 holiday voucher, in time for Christmas? That's just one of 30 prizes in the Lib Dem Christmas Draw - tickets are on sale now!
'The Tory Concept of 'Purple Tuesday' (to be next Tuesday 13th November 2018), "the UK's first accessible shopping day" is all very well and good but it does not recognise that, for a disabled person, being able to actually ENTER a shop is the end of the story, not the start.
We are pleased to announce that the following members, are going to be the new LDDA executive from 1st January 2019. The period of office is two years.
Lord Rennard has written the foreword for a paper 'Action on Delayed Transfer of Care' produced by the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA). The paper has been sent to MPs and peers most closely associated with health and disability issues as well as relevant Ministers and civil servants.
Tthe Department for Transport (DfT) are proposing changes to the Community Transport (CT) Permit system. This affects CT providers that undertake paid services, even if they are small scale and linked to the local community. If the plan goes ahead CT providers will need an Operators' licence and their drivers will have to obtain Passenger Carrying Vehicles (PCV) licences. This will significantly increase costs. The new regulations will probably also reduce the number of volunteers willing to drive minibuses.
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!”
