Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats have called for a halt to the 'headlong rush' towards a merger of the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups, over fears that it could have a harmful impact on local health services in the future.
Grief and despair. That's what a great number of trans, non-binary and intersex individuals in the UK are feeling today. Despite 3 years of promises and consultations by successive Conservative governments, which created a storm of anti-trans hatred and disinformation from the media, the Government has scrapped its plans to reform the Gender Recognition Act. We, along with a majority of respondents to both Govenrment consultations, had welcomed proposals to introduce self-identification, remove the spousal veto and allow non-binary individuals to gain legal recognition. Sadly, these have all now been scrapped.
Bedford Borough Council's Executive discussed the financial impact of COVID-19 following a report highlighting that the council is facing a financial gap of between £22 and £36million over the next five years with the impact of COVID-19 causing a significant pressure.
Local MP Tim Farron has teamed up with the charity Independent Age to urge the Government to act after new figures revealed that 1,205 households in Westmorland and Lonsdale who are entitled to Pension Credit - designed to keep the least well-off pensioners out of poverty - are missing out on receiving the benefit.
On the floor of the House of Commons this afternoon, South Lakes MP Tim Farron demanded that ministers intervened after reports of local teachers and pupils struggling to get tests for COVID-19.
Building back better must mean transforming London into the greenest capital on earth
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!”
