Tim Stone

At the launch of the new Draft Bill on energy, Liberal Democrat Secretary of State of Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey, writes:

Over the next decade, around a fifth of existing power plants are due to close, against a background of increased energy demand and increasing prices. We need new investment simply to keep the lights on.

But more than that, we need a clean energy revolution to meet our ambitious climate change goals and make this the greenest government ever.

That’s why I am bringing forward a new Energy Bill today.

You can read more about our clean energy revolution here.

We also need to transform our energy market to reduce the risk and cost of low carbon technologies.

That’s what our Bill does.

The UK is fast becoming a world leader in renewable energy, especially in off shore wind. I want us to lead the world in Carbon Capture and Storage too.

And we are also tackling rising energy bills. Without reforming the energy market bills will rise by around £200 in the coming years. Our reforms will mean bills are around 4% lower than they otherwise would have been.

Going green is good for the economy, good for Britain and good for you.

Yours,

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

(Image licensed under Creative Commons from DECC)

The County has announced the timetables for the routes south of Sawston  designed as a stop gap after re-arrangement of the Stagecoach Citi 7 service.  These new services are to start on 1oth June and will mean that Heathfield, Hinxton and Whittlesford will get a two-hourly bus. As yet they don’t appear on the County website.  I have asked that when the timetables are printed they should include the remaining Citi 7 service covering these destinations.

The County has listened to advice from local bus users and has improved the draft timetable to make it easier for passengers to change at Link Road, Sawston onto the 20-minute Citi 7 service to Cambridge.  On the way back the County has arranged with the operator that connecting services from Link Road will wait for the Cambridge Citi 7 before setting off.  That should avoid people being stranded for the best part of two hours.  There will, of course, be a limit to how long the connecting bus can wait before it upsets its own return timetable, but at least the effort will be made.

This is not the end of the story.  Work is now starting on designing a cost-effective transport network for our villages which it is hoped will be better than the one we have just lost.

There has been a certain amount of grumbling from companies who are having to do something about employee pensions.  The latest figures from Scottish Widows say that a fifth of the working population is making no provision at all for their pensions.  More bureaucracy and red tape perhaps but there’s no doubt that the Coalition is right to do something to prevent people entering retirement with nothing but the state pension to rely on.

Scottish Widows call for a government campaign to get people to save for their retirement.  But we know that government campaigns depend on people being prepared to listen.  Just compare the petrol queue panic with the obesity epidemic to see how effective “campaigns” can be.

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It is shameful that, despite all the promise on a four or five year old’s first day at school, or the passion of their teachers, you can all too often plot that child’s path just by asking how much their parents earn.

The £2.5billion Pupil Premium was one of the four pledges on the front page of our manifesto.  And now, with Liberal Democrats in government, schools are using the money for things like breakfast clubs; homework clubs; or to provide one-to-one-tuition. These are the sort of experiences many middle class children take for granted but a poorer child might rarely enjoy.

Yesterday I visited a fantastic primary school to see how they are spending their Pupil Premium, highlight our new Summer Schools to ease the transition from primary to secondary, and to set out our plans to reward teachers and hold schools to account.

The Pupil Premium shows that, in tough times, we are implementing Liberal Democrat values and prioritising help for those pupils who need it most.

Best wishes,

Nick Clegg MP

Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister

PS Click here to find out how much money your local school will receive from the Liberal Democrats’ Pupil Premium.

At breakfast today I heard on the news that the Labour Party are making much fuss about the declining number of adults receiving social care. This is in fact a success story, shared by Cambridgeshire. A programme involving “re-ablement” is designed to take adults out of constant dependency by getting them mobile and able to look after themselves. 

There is, of course, considerable financial pressure in all areas of social services. Social care budgets are still rising as some needs become more complex. Great care has to be taken to avoid people falling through the net. So far in Cambridgeshire the re-ablement programme has been a great success. The County is not abandoning anyone.

Details of the timetables which Stagecoach will be bringing in on 10th June can now be found on:

http://www.stagecoachbus.com/pressreleasesdetails.aspx?Id=940

The County Council will shortly follow with its timetable for the services replacing the ones which Stagecoach have withdrawn or curtailed south of Sawston.