Cllr Gurch Singh
RBWM Liberal Democrats held an Executive meeting on the evening of 3rd August to consider the application of Cllr Gurch Singh (St. Mary's) to join the national party.
RBWMLD
4 Aug 2020
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
News from across Hucclecote
Councillors Declan Wilson and David Brown keep you updated with news from across Hucclecote ward.
4 Aug 2020
Coronavirus Deep Dive Report published
Following interim findings published last month, the Bedford Borough COVID-19 Deep Dive Final Report has now been published this report does not provide answers to some of the key questions about what has happened since the start of this crisis. Those questions would need a different sort of inquiry, this Report looks at transmission.
4 Aug 2020
Warning Over Impact of New Laws to Reduce Communities’ Say over Local Developments
The Chair of Bedford Borough Council's Planning Committee has warned that the Government's extension of 'Permitted Development' (PD) rights will further reduce local people's influence over their own communities and could lead to poorer quality, unpopular development taking place.
4 Aug 2020
Medway Liberal Democrats are supporting World Youth Skills Day on 12 August
Medway Liberal Democrats are supporting World Youth Skills Day (WYSD) on the 12 August. WYSD is organised by UNESCO, and this year's theme "Youth Engagement for Global Action" highlights the ways in which young people engage at a local, national and global level and enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes.
MLDAW
4 Aug 2020
BBC licence fee should be set by independent body
The Liberal Democrats are to debate plans at their Autumn conference to ensure the BBC licence fee level is set independently next year after government cuts forced the BBC to end free TV licences for most over-75s.
4 Aug 2020
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!”
