Reading Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats from Reading were in Harrogate for the Liberal Democrats’ conference last weekend to back a move to make housing in Reading warmer, greener and more affordable.

The Liberal Democrat plans that were debated on Sunday (March 4th) would:

• Help lift pensioners and disabled people out of fuel poverty;
• Cut the number of excess winter deaths in our region
• Make it easier for families to insulate their homes and cut fuel bills;
• Aim to more than halve the amount of polluting carbon emissions produced by homes in Reading.

A recent government study found 133,000 households living in fuel poverty in the South East, 3.9% of all households in the region. Government statisticians have calculated that, across the South East Region there were 4,700 excess winter deaths, of whom 4,300 were pensioners.

Local Liberal Democrats are backing proposals that would see fuel bills for local people fall dramatically and carbon emissions from homes cut by over half by 2050.

Local Liberal Democrat campaigner, Chris Harris (photo – right) said,

“Making Reading a greener, cheaper and more sustainable community must be a top priority.

“This is why I and my Liberal Democrat colleagues voted in favour of these plans to cut carbon emissions from homes by more than half. This would save families here in Reading a lot of money currently being poured into the gas and electricity companies’ pockets.”

Commenting on the specific proposals, Chris Harris said,

“Many people in Reading can’t afford to heat their homes properly. 4,700 people in the South East died last winter who shouldn’t have. It’s disgraceful that pensioners can’t afford to heat their homes.

“I want to see help targeted to enable older people and those with disabilities to increase the energy efficiency of their homes and reduce their fuel bills.

“Standardised packages including a range of insulation, draught-proofing and window, heating and light replacement would help improve the energy efficiency of all homes in Reading”

“It should be simple maths: less energy wasted equals lower fuel bills, fewer excess winter deaths, less pollution and a greener Reading.”

Commenting on the debate, Gareth Epps said:

“We were able to hear from Liberal Democrats running councils in Newcastle and Cambridge, among other cities, on the work that can be done to make housing meet sustainability standards beyond Reading’s current dreams.

The revised building regulations could have been a trailblazer for greener housing in the UK. They are not. It is a missed opportunity and yet another example of Labour’s failure to deliver on the environment.”