Bedford Borough Council Provide School Holiday Food Vouchers This Half Term
Bedford Borough Council will again be providing vouchers to families with children eligible for income related free school meals.
20 Oct 2021
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Hate Crimes are Increasing at an Alarming Rate - Ian Bradwell
The latest figures for hate crimes show that there's been a significant increase for the fourth year running. There were...
IB
20 Oct 2021
Bedford Borough Council freezes car park charges for fifth year in a row
There will be no increase in council car park charges from January 2022 thanks to the decision made by Mayor Dave Hodgson and colleagues. Commenting on this decision Mayor Dave Hodgson said "This is great news for our residents who have already been through so much in the last 18 months, freezing car park charges for the fifth successive year is one way in which the council can provide support."
20 Oct 2021
"UK needs to Double the Rate of Rail Electrification or Green Targets will be Missed," says the Railway Industry Association.
The Railway Industry Association (RIA) is the main industry trade group for railway equipment manufacturers in the United Kingdom and is based in Smith Square, London. They are emphatic that the UK needs immediately to double the current rate of rail electrification.
19 Oct 2021
"UK needs to Double the Rate of Rail Electrification or Green Targets will be Missed," says the Railway Industry Association.
The Railway Industry Association (RIA) is the main industry trade group for railway equipment manufacturers in the United Kingdom and is based in Smith Square, London. They are emphatic that the UK needs immediately to double the current rate of rail electrification.
19 Oct 2021
How much bureaucracy does it take to change a traffic light bulb?
Here's an example of how central government micro-manages local councils. To get money to fix traffic lights WC has to compete with other councils and draw up a bid and submit it to the government under a special time-limited traffic-light-fixing funding scheme. Read the WC announcement:
19 Oct 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!”
