This week I have been sitting as a member of the Bill Committee for the creation of Great British Energy.

It’s crucial that Great British Energy delivers value for taxpayers, crowds in private investment in renewables, reduces energy bills and empowers community energy initiatives in our local areas. I was proud to be able to mention the inspiring examples of community energy in South Cambs and highlight the barriers that many of you have told me about.

I’ve tabled amendments to ensure just this. I want there to be a real focus on community benefits for rural areas that will shoulder most of the new renewable energy projects.

I also proposed that Great British Energy invest in insulating homes for vulnerable people, making them warmer, healthier, and more energy efficient.

The committee will sit again next week and I shall update you again then.

On Monday I made my first speech in the chamber as Lib Dem spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero in response to the Government’s £22bn pledge for carbon capture projects.

After the irresponsible stalling and rowing back by Sunak and the Conservative government, we must decarbonise British industry if we want to get back on track to our rightfully ambitious net zero targets. Some carbon capture and storage will be necessary for the industries that are hard to decarbonise such as steel and cement but this must not be an excuse to avoid reducing emissions.

I made sure to remind Ed Milliband, the Secretary of State, that we also desperately need investment of a similar scale in renewables, which we know are the future. The Government must make sure that this doesn’t become a shortcut for carbon heavy industries instead of investing in cleaning up their act for good.

You can watch the speech below:

Pippa Heylings, Liberal Democrat MP for South Cambridgeshire, has called for an immediate ban on executive bonuses at Anglian Water after it was announced today (8th October) that the company would have to pay back £38.1 million due to poor performance.

It comes as the new government’s Water Bill is set to be debated in Parliament. The Liberal Democrats have said the bill is only a “half-measure” and will table an amendment that would enforce an immediate ban on water company bosses’ bonuses.

The Liberal Democrats have previously revealed that there were 827 sewage spills in South Cambridgeshire last year. This is the most recent data available and uses the old constituency boundaries.

Local MP, Pippa Heylings said that the steps by the regulator announced today needed to be a “watershed” moment for Anglian Water and that it was “high time” action was taken on these polluting firms.

Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for South Cambridgeshire Pippa Heylings said: 

“During the General Election, I heard repeatedly from people worried about pollution in our rivers and chalk streams. It’s clear that the Conservatives allowed water companies to ride roughshod over people here in South Cambridgeshire for far too long. They have been pumping filthy sewage into our waterways while their bosses take home massive bonuses.

“That must end. No longer can polluting companies be rewarded for failing to protect our local environment all whilst hiking bills on people in our area.

“Disappointingly, the new government’s bill is only a half-measure and nowhere near tough enough on these polluting firms.

“That is why I am proud to support the Liberal Democrats amendment to the bill, which would ban water company bosses' bonuses until leaks are fixed and sewage spills end. Only then will we start to get a fair deal for people here in South Cambridgeshire.”

Pippa Heylings MP becomes Liberal Democrat Energy Security and Net Zero Spokesperson with vow to take take green issues to the heart of Westminster

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has today (Wednesday 18th September) appointed Pippa Heylings MP to be the party’s Energy Security and Net Zero Spokesperson.

The appointment of the local MP to the role follows the Liberal Democrats’ first reshuffle since the party won a record number of seats in the general election.

The new appointment follows Ed Davey’s speech to Liberal Democrat conference this weekend, where he set out plans to be a “responsible opposition”. Ed Davey urged his party to focus on the “people’s priorities” and “clean up the mess left by the Conservative party."

Pippa Heylings has vowed to take issues surrounding climate change to the heart of Westminster. The MP will use her role in the House of Commons to champion climate and green energy issues and hold the government to account on policy decisions.

Before entering parliament, Pippa ran her own business reaching agreements between governments, businesses and NGOs on climate and energy internationally. As a local Councillor, Pippa was the Lib Dem local government spokesperson for environment, economy, housing and transport. She has already hit the ground running since the general election, by campaigning to help save the new Cambridgeshire hospitals, whose future was under threat as a result of Labour’s funding review. 

Commenting on the new appointment, Liberal Democrat MP Pippa Heylings said:

“It is a huge honour to take on this role and speak for my party on energy security and climate change. I will now use this position to take local concerns about insulating homes, meeting our climate targets and caring for our environment to the heart of Westminster. This matters deeply to the residents of South Cambridgeshire. 

“I am grateful to Ed Davey for this opportunity to hold ministers to account in the House of Commons. I will not take this responsibility for granted, and will also use it to give a voice to local people on the key issues they care about most. Now is the time for a constructive opposition in Westminster that will champion the people’s priorities.”

Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey said:

“My new frontbench will champion the people’s priorities, ensuring we hold the new government to account as a responsible opposition.

“I am humbled by the result of the General Election and the millions of voters who put their trust in the Liberal Democrats, including many for the first time. We will stand up for our communities every day on the issues that matter most, fixing health and care services, tackling the cost of living crisis and protecting our precious environment.

“I am so proud of my entire team of 72 Liberal Democrat MPs who will serve as strong local champions in Westminster as we clean up the mess left by the Conservative government.

I spoke in the debate on the nomination of the UK climate envoy, emphasising that the envoy should be nominated by the Prime Minister to have the gravitas to put the UK back in the global leadership position which the previous Conservative government trashed.

See the video below or read the Hansard transcript 

In one of their first votes in Parliament, the new Liberal Democrat MPs for South Cambridgeshire, Ely & East Cambridgeshire and St Neots & Mid Cambridgeshire have voted together, supporting an amendment to the King's Speech which would see action taken on sewage dumping, cost of living and the NHS

The new MP for South Cambridgeshire, Pippa Heylings said she was proud to back the Liberal Democrat amendment to the King’s Speech, in particular its focus calling on the Government to ‘stop the scandal of sewage dumping, against which the previous Government failed to take action, including by replacing Ofwat with a new regulator’.

She said; “One of the key issues that residents are horrified by in South Cambridgeshire is the dumping of raw sewage into our treasured chalk streams such as the Rivers Mel, Rhee, Shep and Granta.

“I have campaigned long on this issue and I am proud to have used one of my first votes to urge the Labour government to go further, calling on them to stop this scandal - caused by a failure of Government to get tough - by replacing Ofwat with a new regulator which has the power to rein in the water companies and get them to clear up their mess.”

Another section of the Liberal Democrat amendment pledged ‘to support families with the cost of living and tackle poverty, including by introducing a national food strategy, extending free school meals to all children in poverty, and by scrapping the two-child benefit cap, and to ensure that rural communities and farmers receive adequate support’.

Charlotte Cane, MP for Ely & East Cambridgeshire said: “The two-child benefit cap creates avoidable poverty for children and families across the country. Scrapping this policy will not only help thousands of children, but also help parents find better employment opportunities.

“Labour may have set up a new Child Poverty Commission, but children in poverty simply cannot wait for this Commission to report before the two-child cap on benefit payments is lifted.”

The Lib Dem amendment also proposed ‘the introduction of a legal right to see a GP within seven days, a guarantee for cancer patients to start treatment within 62 days from urgent referral, free personal care in England, better support for carers, and a cross-party commission on social care’.

Ian Sollom, the new MP for St Neots & Mid Cambridgeshire said; “Years of chaos and dysfunction have left our NHS its knees, our local services at breaking point, and patients facing long and worrying waits for diagnosis and treatment. 

“In the election, residents were clear with me just how difficult accessing primary care has become, with getting to see their GP an 8am phone lottery and NHS dentists few and far between. That’s why the Liberal Democrats put health at the heart of our manifesto.

“Fixing the NHS and care is a vital step in repairing the damage the Conservatives have done to the economy.”

The Conservatives and SNP both failed to vote for the measures put forward by the 72-strong Liberal Democrat grouping in Parliament