Rural bus routes under threat
Plaid Cymru politicians have urged the Welsh Government to commit to safeguarding the Bus Emergency Scheme which subsidises many bus routes across rural Ceredigion.
Campaigners thank Local Ceredigion MP, Ben Lake, for Championing Community Energy in Parliament
Today campaign group, Power for People, thanked local Ceredigion MP, Ben Lake, for supporting a proposed new law aimed at helping community energy schemes, which have seen almost no growth in recent years.
Community energy – renewable energy generated by community owned and run projects – accounts for less than 0.5% of total UK electricity generation capacity. According to the Parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee, the sector could grow 12-20 times by 2030 with the right Government support, powering 2.2 million homes and saving 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year.
Ben Lake MP joins Scope in a cross-party letter to the Chancellor
Today Ben Lake MP wrote to the Chancellor alongside the disability equality charity Scope and 40 Cross-Party MPs and Peers calling for further cost-of-living support.
The letter, backed by representatives of all main parties across Parliament, calls on the UK Government to introduce a social tariff and bring forward the cost-of-living payments this winter. MP’s and Peers are joining together to send a clear message to the Chancellor, disabled people in Ceredigion need more from this Government.
Local politicians call for urgent resuscitation of Ceredigion bus services
Elin Jones MS and Ben Lake MP have expressed their concerns at the recently announced reductions in rural bus services across Ceredigion and have called on the Welsh Government, the local authority and commercial bus operators to work together to identify ways to maintain bus services in this time of reduced budgets.
Delays to off-grid energy support 'utterly absurd' – Plaid Cymru
There cannot be further delays to payments promised since September 2022, says Ben Lake MP.
Plaid Cymru Treasury spokesperson and Ceredigion MP, Ben Lake, has today (Thursday 26 January) said it was "utterly absurd" that rural households are still waiting for energy bill support promised since September 2022.
According to the UK Government’s own statistics, Ceredigion is the local authority most reliant on alternative fuels, such as heating oil and LPG, on mainland Britain – at 74 per cent.
Levelling Up: Idea Wales should be grateful for ‘ad-hoc’ funding ‘insulting’ – Ben Lake MP
Wales at a loss of £1.1bn compared to EU funding and local authority spend per head down 9.4% over a decade – Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru Treasury spokesperson, Ben Lake MP has today (Thursday 19 January) criticised the UK Government’s methodology for allocating funding under its ‘Levelling Up Fund’, describing it as “arbitrary and ad-hoc”.
Mr Lake’s constituency of Ceredigion is among eleven Welsh local authorities that have not received funding under today’s announcement, despite wealthier areas such as Rishi Sunak’s constituency of Richmond in Yorkshire receiving funding.
Rural communities are bearing the brunt of the cost-of-living crisis” says Ceredigion MP
Ben Lake MP has called on the UK Government to introduce a second round of alternative funding to provide support for off-grid premises ahead of next winter.
The UK Government have announced that support for homes and businesses connected to the mains has grid will be extended for another year, albeit at a reduced rate, but it appears that the single round of alternative funding announced for off-grid households will be expected to last for the full 18 months.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced that the Energy Price Guarantee will be extended to April 2024. From April 2023, the annual energy bill of the typical household will increase to £3,000; an estimated £500 saving compared to the expected Ofgem price cap. No equivalent support has been announced for off-grid premises.
Ceredigion MS supporting Welsh wool at the Senedd
Elin Jones MS for Ceredigion was pleased to attend the Welsh Wool Alliance’s special event at the Senedd last week, entitled “Wool – the new Welsh Gold”.
Ben Lake MP reiterates calls for urgent action on support for off-grid households and businesses
The MP for Ceredigion has once again urged the UK Government to provide clarity on the one-off payment promised to UK households and businesses that are not on the mains gas grid, and therefore depend on heating oil, LPG gas, and alternative fuels to heat their homes.
The UK Government has confirmed that a one-off payment of £100 will be made to off-grid households and that the payment will ensure that a typical customer using alternative fuel does not face a higher rate of growth in their heating costs since last winter, in comparison to those using mains gas who are supported by the Energy Price Guarantee.
Ben Lake raises concerns about the buying of agricultural land by large corporations in Parliament
Plaid Cymru MP for Ceredigion, Ben Lake, has warned the UK Government that “prime agricultural land” is being sold to corporations with the intent of “greenwashing” their own emissions rather than a genuine intention to lower their carbon footprint.
During a debate in the House of Commons on the National Food Strategy and food security, Ben Lake MP highlighted that the Green Finance Observatory has expressed concerns about such schemes, warning that they are “fundamentally not about mitigating climate change, or even about removing past emissions, but about enabling future emissions, about protecting economic growth and corporate profits”.