Geoff Harrison, a district councillor for Cunningham has been elected the new Mayor of the City and District of St Albans, with Park Street district councillor Syed Abidi being elected as Deputy Mayor.
Liberal Democrat Members from Weston and North Somerset travelled down to Tiverton and Honiton to support local-born Richard Froome, campaigning to be the local Member of Parliament. Our local team had much to learn from the campaign in Tiverton and Honiton, where there is a byelection following the resignation of (yet another) disgraced Tory MP.
Leader of the Opposition writes to Council leadership requesting they agree to set up an all-party summit on waste management arrangements in Merton.
Bedford Borough Council is one of the few local authorities in the country that offers up to 100% Council Tax support for the most vulnerable and hard-pressed households. In comparison, Central Bedfordshire Council only offers up to 75% Council Tax support. As a result, the most financially challenged households in Bedford Borough receive on average around £400 extra support each year than they would get under the scheme used by the Conservative-run Central Bedfordshire Council.
Get your colleagues to sign up for the 20:22 Deal!
As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic Mayor Dave Hodgson has made improving skills, creating jobs and promoting growth priorities in Bedford Borough.
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!”
