Steve Gilbert MP

Cornwall's Liberal Democrat MPs have called on the Government to act quickly to ensure local water customers receive the much needed help with their water bills as soon as possible.

The Water Bills Relief Fund, worth £35million annually, was announced by the Coalition Government in November and will provide a yearly rebate of £50 for all households in the South West Water area. Primary legislation will have to be passed by Parliament before bills can be cut in 2013.

Stephen Gilbert, MP for St Austell & Newquay, has welcomed today's news that EDF gas prices are to fall by 5% from 7th February.

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Energy has called for the remaining five large energy suppliers to follow suit and give consumers some respite this winter.

Stephen Gilbert, the Liberal Democrat MP for mid-Cornwall, today introduced a Parliamentary '10 Minute Rule Bill' which would introduce a 'fit and proper person' test for the owners of Park Home sites.

Park Homes are bungalow style properties often housing elderly or retired residents on sites of up to several hundred similar properties. There are over 700 park homes in Stephen's St Austell & Newquay Constituency and an estimated 250,000 people live in the homes nationwide.

The MP for mid-Cornwall Stephen Gilbert spent Friday morning helping the homelessness charity St Petroc's prepare Christmas presents for some of Cornwall's estimated 88 rough sleepers and will be raising Government policy towards homelessness in a Parliamentary debate on Tuesday.

Stephen Gilbert, who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Housing said:

Stephen Gilbert has called on communities in Cornwall to take advantage of the opportunities being offered through the Green Deal during a speech at a 'Greening Campaign' conference held at the Eden Project yesterday.

The Greening Campaign works with communities across England to help implement low-carbon sustainability projects tailored to an individual community's needs. They focus on grass roots level community action and offers support to deliver programmes including community energy or agriculture schemes, water efficiency projects, and retrofitting of renewable technologies on domestic or community buildings.

St Austell MP Stephen Gilbert recently visited Abbyfield house, which is sheltered accommodation for older people, where he learnt about their latest campaign "Companionship at Christmas".

Abbeyfield is a national charity with 700 houses for older people throughout the UK accommodating about 7000 residents. Its hoped that their latest campaign will make a real impact on combating loneliness this year, offering older people an alternative to spending the celebratory period alone.

This week, the Liberal Democrat Communities Minister Andrew Stunell announced the funding that Cornwall Council would receive from the New Homes Bonus.

The scheme rewards local authorities for delivering extra housing for local people. Cornwall will receive £5,132,877 from the scheme as a result of delivering 2,237 new homes and bringing 51 empty properties back in to use.

Stephen Gilbert MP has welcomed today's announcement that St Austell's rail station is to receive much-needed investment as part of the increase in government funding for the Access for All programme.

Transport Minister Norman Baker MP said in his statement to the House of Commons:

"I am pleased to announce today a further £37.5 million pounds of "mid-tier" Access for all funding. Major improvements will take place at stations across the country including at London Paddington, St. Austell, Stratford-upon-Avon and Ystrad Mynach."

NATO's Secretary General has said that operation "Unified Protector" was "one of the most successful in NATO history".

There's no doubt that NATO was able, once the United Nations Security Council mandate was secure, to quickly and effectively deploy a range of kinetic military capabilities: enforcing a no-fly zone, a sea blockade, and delivering precision strikes against ground assets that threatened civilians.

St Austell & Newquay MP, Stephen Gilbert, has today joined calls for a dedicated Minister for Older People as part of the national campaign, Grey Pride.

Speaking at an event in the House of Commons today, Stephen Gilbert said:

"In the next 25 years, the average age of people in the UK will rise to 42.2 years and the number of over 85 year olds will double. It means that the needs and concerns of older people become even more important socially, politically and personally.