Over 70 new, efficient houses will be built across Godalming, Chiddingfold and Farnham in a forward-looking move by Waverley Borough Council. This marks the start of Waverley's next phase of social housing provision.
Starting with this year's local elections in May, voters at polling stations will have to show a form of photo ID before being allowed to vote. It is the biggest change to how we vote in a generation.
For the first time, electors voting in person at polling stations will need to show photographic ID to vote at this year's local elections, including electors in Bedford Borough. Residents are being urged to make sure they are ready to vote in May by not only checking they are registered to vote but also checking they have an accepted form of ID.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today revealed that the number of claims for payment made by dentists for NHS appointments have fallen by more than 50% in some health boards since 2019, as he called on the Health Secretary to deliver a new recovery plan which will prioritise and support the dental sector.
Parents of children living in Seaford who would expect to attend Seaford Head Academy have been critical about the way in which the Academy has carried out a consultation on their new admissions policy.
' Lib Dem Councillor Paul Ray has responded to the announcement two days ago that Conservative Lichfield District Council had failed with its Levelling-Up bid to fund the new leisure centre and the comments from Michael Fabricant MP that followed. ' "The Conservatives are fighting between themselves when they should be fighting for our area. I want to reiterate that I wanted the council to succeed in raising the funding to deliver the new leisure centre that the people of Lichfield need and deserve. But the council is failing the people of Lichfield because delivery of this new leisure centre is no way in sight. ' Doug Pullen as Conservative leader of Lichfield District Council talks a good talk. But he has let us all down and it is clear that so much more should have done with this bid. ' Also I am on a group overseeing the Conservatives' delivery of this new leisure centre. But no regular meetings of task group have been happening. These have only been happening after I chase and complain publicly. ' The ou
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!”
