Brecon and Radnorshire Liberal Democrats

After hearing of the news of the death of Lord Emlyn Hooson QC, Roger Williams, Member of Parliament for Brecon and Radnorshire said:

"This is incredibly sad news; Lord Hooson was a great servant of liberalism and to the people of Montgomeryshire and Wales. He was a great friend and family man. He will be sorely missed in Westminster and in his beloved home town of Llanidloes.

Commenting on the death of Lord Emlyn Hooson, former Liberal Democrat for MP for Montgomeryshire, Kirsty Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats said:

"Emlyn Hooson was respected in the House of Lords and the wider political community for his passionate liberalism, his love of Wales and his sharp intellect. Not only will he be remembered for his high profile legal work, he will also be remembered for establishing the Welsh Liberal Party in Wales - something we are still proud of today.

ACTION NEEDED TO PREVENT FURTHER RURAL BANK CLOSURES- WILLIAMS

Brecon and Radnorshire MP Roger Williams used today's Westminster Hall debate to highlight the damaging effect bank closures have on rural communities.

The debate has been widely seen as a success having achieved cross party consensus stressing the need for a Banking Summit and the consideration of pilot schemes for Community Banking facilities, in order to maintain access to financial services in rural areas.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are using their debate this week to call on the Welsh Government to publish a statement setting out in detail its reasons for maintaining funding for Awema despite repeated warnings of financial malpractice.

Warnings regarding Awema's (All Wales Ethnic Minority Association) financial conduct were raised with the Welsh Labour Government in 2002, 2004 and 2007. Despite this, the charity continued to secure funding commitments for projects worth more than £8 million.

Responding to the Welsh Affairs Committee's report on 'Inward Investment in Wales', Eluned Parrott, Shadow Welsh Liberal Democrat Business Minister said:

"I welcome the report of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee into inward investment in Wales. Their recommendations prove that they have clearly been thorough in their questioning and research. It is of great concern, however, that the Business Minister didn't attend to give evidence on something vitally important to the Welsh economy. I believe that this was a great error on her part as she is key in promoting Wales as a country open for business.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Aled Roberts has called on Education Minister Leighton Andrews' to provide more detail about his decision to scrap the Child Development Assessment Profile (CDAP) and replace it with a "tool that better supports children's early learning and development".

Welsh Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Aled Roberts has welcomed today's announcement that the banding of primary schools is to be delayed until September 2014. The decision comes in the wake of a report published by the Chief Inspector for Education and Training which highlighted a number of weaknesses in the accuracy of primary school assessments.

Brecon and Radnorshire, Liberal Democrat MP Roger Williams has secured a ninety minute Westminster Hall debate on "High Street Bank Branch Closures in Rural Areas".

After the announcement that HSBC was to close its Presteigne Branch, Roger Williams applied for a debate to discuss the impact that these closures have on rural communities.

Responding to the Investigation Report on Funding for AWEMA, Peter Black AM, said:

"For ten years, the Labour government has stood by as millions of pounds of taxpayers money is wasted by a charity that has played fast and loose with public money.

"The Welsh Labour Government was repeatedly warned over the last decade that all was not well at Awema, however, they still continued to throw Welsh tax payers' money at this charity.