Liberal Democrats for a Better Warrington
For a cleaner, greener, safer, fairer and more caring Warrington
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15 Apr 2021
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Lib Dems in Epping Forest announce election candidates
Liberal Democrats in Epping Forest have announced their candidates for the local elections in May, and they need your help to get elected.
15 Apr 2021
15 Apr 2021
15 Apr 2021
Record NHS waiting list shows that front line staff will need more support - MP
Local MP Tim Farron says NHS front line staff desperately need more support, after it was revealed that 4.7 million people were waiting for routine operations and procedures in England in February - the most since 2007.
15 Apr 2021
Raising the carers allowance
Carers Week estimate that there are up to 13.6m people in the U.K who undertake unpaid care duties, 26% of the adult population (see https://www.carersuk.org/images/CarersWeek2020/CW_2020_Research_Report_WEB.pdf ) For those earning under £128 per week it is possible to claim a carers allowance. To be eligible you have to provide 35 hours care per week for which you receive £67.25p. This allowance has just been reviewed. Whilst the government decided to significantly increase in the minimum wage ( by 19p per hour) they decided not to increase the weekly earnings limit for carers and increased the weekly payment to £67.60 a derisory increase of 5p per day. Projections based on polling indicate that unpaid carers across the UK have provided support to be £193 billion of care a year according to Carers Week Whilst awareness of unpaid carers is higher since the outbreak of coronavirus with half (48%) of those who had never been a carer said they were either more aware or much more aware of unpaid carers. 21
15 Apr 2021
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!”
