Thousands of people with mental health issues are trapped in a spiral of escalating debts, a charity says. The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute said that in 2017, some 23,000 people were being pursued while in hospital for mental health problems. Thousands more were in a similar position while receiving mental health crisis support in the community.
Charities have expressed concern after the government announced a new review of the potential bill facing social care providers for historic underpayment of staff. Providers have been urging the government to rethink enforcement action over back-pay for sleep-in shift workers, which the sector estimates could cost it up tp £400m and bankrupt many providers, for the past year, arguing that the government changed its National Minimum Wage (NMW) guidance in October 2016.
At the end of an at times fractious day discussing the budget, the full council meeting ended with cross party agreement to support Dr Brian Mathew's motion to assess the feasibility of scaling up the 'Shared Lives' programme in Wiltshire. This will now go to the next cabinet meeting to establish how this can go forward. There is a potential for a real 'win-win' here for both adult social care in Wiltshire and serious savings for the Council's budget.
Liberal Democrats on the city council will propose amendments to the council budget on Thursday (22nd Feb) concentrating on cultural and community activities.
Local Liberal Democrats have taken the initiative to secure value to the community for the future use of Headley Court. At their instigation, Mole Valley District Council has taken steps to ensure that any future owner of the site understands the value associated with on-going employment at the site, with a full quota of affordable housing in any residential development and with future uses which retain the centre's expertise in rehabilitation and use of the specialist facilities for their original purpose.
Today the Liberal Democrats advocated for the adoption of an amendment to Wiltshire Council's budget to allow for a greater move to LED street lighting across the county.
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!”
