Responding to the news that NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and DMC Healthcare have agreed to mutually terminate care contracts at GP practices across Medway. Liberal Democrats stress that any new provider should have an extensive background in healthcare and an exceptional track record of realising high quality services for patients at the practices that DMC managed.
Liberal Democrats are alarmed by the findings of a recent report produced by the University of Kent, on the economic impact on Medway of the closure of Chatham Docks.
Changes to the planning system could see the county's countryside ruined by allowing thousands of new homes to be built in a developer 'free for all', a councillor has warned. As part of sweeping changes to the planning system revealed by the Government earlier this month, councils may have to use a new method for calculating the number of new homes it will need to build in the future.
This was the question posed by Jules White, a secondary school headteacher and leader of the 'Worth Less?' campaign group, representing hundreds of secondary school headteachers, after the government performed a U turn on its A-level and GCSE grade awarding rules.
The LDCRE has today launched a 10-point plan to improve racial equality both inside and outside the party. We call on both Layla Moran and Ed Davey and their campaigns to pledge their support for all 10 of these policies. We believe all these pledges are deliverable and will work with the successful candidate to introduce them.
The Town Council can bid for what is known as "Section 106" money whenever it sees an application for a major development, residential or otherwise. 'Major' usually means ten or more dwellings; requests can be made in relation to smaller developments but are unlikely to succeed. Bids should be for capital projects that offset some defined planning harm arising from the proposed development. By default such projects relate to youth or adult recreation facilities (on- or off-site) but that does not preclude projects in other categories if some planning harm can arguably be offset by them.
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!”
