The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have revealed proposals to reform the funding of the National Assembly to promote "accountability, fairness and growth." The Party today provided their suggestions in a weighty submission to the Silk Commission.
Kirsty Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats said, "Our vision for devolution has always included making sure that the National Assembly has the appropriate range of powers available to improve the lives of the people of Wales.
Peter Black, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, has today been given permission by the National Assembly to introduce a bill that will regulate the process by which mobile homes (park homes) are regulated and sold in Wales.
Currently, there are many cases throughout Wales' 80 park home sites of unfair practice. Problems faced by residents range from a lack of site maintenance to changes in ground rent and site policy without consultation, through to harassment and bullying.
Commenting on a new Cardiff Business School study on inward investment Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Business Minister Eluned Parrott said:
"The language used in this report is damning; it describes the agencies involved in attracting inward investment to Wales as contradicting one another and as being fragmented and disjointed.
Only 2 new zones - Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd (Energy, Environment and ICT) and the Haven Waterway in Pembrokeshire (subject to confirmation with the UK Government) have been added to the previous list of enterprise zones in Anglesey, Ebbw Vale, Deeside, St Athan and Cardiff.
The Welsh Government will also pursue something short of an Enterprise Zone in Powys around Newtown, Llandrindod Wells and Brecon.
The Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Education in the Assembly, Aled Roberts, has reacted to today's publication of Estyn's Annual Report by repeating his calls for the Education Minister to recognise that the achievement of individual pupils and the support that will be provided by new regional consortia must be key factors in raising school standards.
Statistics released by UCAS showthe number of applications to Welsh universities for 2012 has fallen compared to the previous year.
Following the deadline on 15 January, the number of applicants received were down by 9.3% on 2011 figures. There was a 12.3% (36,195 applicants) fall from English applicants, which is just over half of the total applications to Welsh institutions. Scottish numbers were down 39.5% and Northern Irish 15.3%, with Welsh applicants dropping by 4.5%.
Eluned Parrott AM has strongly criticised suggestions that Jack Straw MP will on Monday call on David Cameron to repatriate £4.2bn in EU funds to Britain.
As European leaders examine proposals on Monday at summit in Brussels to spend more than €80bn (£67bn) of structural funds across the EU on boosting economic growth, Straw leads a group of senior Labour MPs calling for the cash to be allocated by Britain.
Aled Roberts, Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for North Wales, has welcomed today's commitment from the Heritage Minister, Huw Lewis, that he will support calls to improve the provision of Welsh language and Wales-related television programming in North Wales. Currently, many areas of North Wales cannot receive Welsh programming through BBC Wales, ITV Wales and S4C. The situation has been exacerbated as a result of transmitter changes in England after Wales' digital switchover.
Brecon and Radnorshire, Liberal Democrat MP Roger Williams has welcomed today's call by the Deputy Prime Minister to raise the income tax threshold to £10,000 sooner than originally planned.
The Government increased the tax allowance by £1,000 in the 2010 Budget, from £6,475 to £7,475. This year we have already announced a planned rise of an additional £630, to take the allowance up to £8,105. Meaning that a total of 1.1 million more people will no longer pay income tax at all.
