Results 1-20 of 407 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Mark Williams

Outlawries Bill: Debate on the Address — [1st Day] (18 Nov 2009)

Mark Williams: The hon. Gentleman has alluded to Sir Emyr Jones Parry's report and to the LCO process, which some of us would say we endure, rather than celebrate. One of the points that Sir Emyr Jones Parry made was about the lack of clarity in the government of Wales-in the transfer of powers. What does the hon. Gentleman feel about that, given what the hon. Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay) said...

Oral Answers to Questions — Wales: Offender Management (11 Nov 2009)

Mark Williams: Further to the question from the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd), will the Minister consider the case of Dyfed Powys probation service, where only one of seven trained individuals has been given a full-time job, and six have been given temporary contracts until next March? What assurance can the Minister give us about funding after next March?

Petitions: Scallop Dredging, Cardigan Bay (4 Nov 2009) has video

Mark Williams: I have a petition of 2,200 signatures on behalf of the Save Our Sea group based in the Ceredigion constituency. The petition declares: The Petition of people of Ceredigion, Declares that dredging of the sea bed has been banned and restricted in several areas of the marine environment due to the proven damage that can be caused by intensive and large-scale dredging; further declares that the...

Farm Animal Welfare (3 Nov 2009)

Mark Williams: Does that not go to the heart of the matter? The new draft standards for the Government's healthier food mark still assert that those bulk-buying products have been subject to "high standards of animal welfare", despite the fact that we are still using battery eggs and factory-farmed pork and chicken.

[Robert Key in the Chair] — Affordable Housing (Rural Areas) (3 Nov 2009)

Mark Williams: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Key. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) on securing this critical debate. This subject is one of the biggest issues in my constituency postbag and at my surgeries. It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew), who spoke about council housing. A large part of Aberystwyth...

[Robert Key in the Chair] — Affordable Housing (Rural Areas) (3 Nov 2009)

Mark Williams: I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I can trace my ancestry to the Isle of Wight, although not to that particular community. I accept the point that local initiatives need to be taken, and I will come on to that later. I simply wish to make the point that there is also a requirement for council housing and that we have lost a huge amount of that stock. Like much of rural Wales,...

[Robert Key in the Chair] — Affordable Housing (Rural Areas) (3 Nov 2009)

Mark Williams: That is precisely the point. The situation is worse than that. There has been a marked lack of communication within the banks, which means we have reached a ludicrous situation where mortgage offers are given to constituents when they have meetings in the high street branch, but when the offer is forwarded on to offices higher up the banking structure, it is told that it was not entitled to...

[Robert Key in the Chair] — Affordable Housing (Rural Areas) (3 Nov 2009)

Mark Williams: Does my hon. Friend accept that the knock-on effect is that such communities—I empathise with them; my constituency has similar problems—become seasonal service providers? As a result, the banks shut, the post offices shut and many stores and other shops shut, which means a worse quality of life for those who are able to stay in those communities.

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (14 Oct 2009) has video

Mark Williams: I know that the Prime Minister is aware of the extent of the affordable housing crisis across rural Britain and many of the innovative ways in which local authorities are trying to address the problem through section 106 agreements. Does he share the sense of bewilderment and anger of many of my constituents that despite the bail-out of the banks, many mortgage providers are still operating a...

Local and Regional Newspapers (15 Jul 2009)

Mark Williams: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Lady Winterton. I am grateful for this opportunity to raise the plight of local and regional newspapers in a Welsh, if not Ceredigion context, but more generally as well. The starting point for my interest in the matter was a visit a few months ago to the office of one of our local newspapers, the Cardigan and Tivyside Advertiser, which is an...

Local and Regional Newspapers (15 Jul 2009)

Mark Williams: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that observation. I emphasise the case that politicians work in concert with their local newspapers, and I note that County Times journalists have been spotted in these parts today. No doubt, they are lurking somewhere in the Gallery. Local news for local communities is important, but the newspapers are struggling because of the range of news media that is...

Local and Regional Newspapers (15 Jul 2009)

Mark Williams: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for those suggestions, some of which I shall take back to Wales with me and some I am using already. For example, adverts for my surgeries appear regularly in the local papers. Those surgeries are costly, but an important principle is involved none the less. I will mention that in connection with local authorities and other public agencies in a little while.

Local and Regional Newspapers (15 Jul 2009)

Mark Williams: I concur. I will return to that point later. The hon. Gentleman is right to say that this is urgent, because, as he said, local titles are going to the wall now. The lack of Welsh stories in the national news media is serious for those hon. Members who represent Welsh constituencies and explains why we attach great importance to the nearest things that we have to a national...

Local and Regional Newspapers (15 Jul 2009)

Mark Williams: I shall append to what my hon. Friend said the phrase, "thereby threatening and jeopardising the future of those newspapers." The Local Government Association has asserted that no threat is posed and that three fifths of all council magazines contain no advertising at all or less than 10 per cent.

Local and Regional Newspapers (15 Jul 2009)

Mark Williams: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that observation. I will take a generalist view in the debate, but I will assert that we stand to lose rather more from the decimation of the local newspaper industry as we know it.

Local and Regional Newspapers (15 Jul 2009)

Mark Williams: That point was mentioned in the report by the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs, which hon. Members will have read. Local councils should be encouraged to take out longer advertising contracts, to run the campaigns that were mentioned earlier and to sponsor local party initiatives. There are precedents for that in Wales, with county councils sponsoring the Papur Bro—the network of...

Local and Regional Newspapers (15 Jul 2009)

Mark Williams: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that. I had a similar reaction to the hon. Gentleman's on reading the LGA brief, although I will not use the poetic language that he uses. None the less, he makes a strong point about the threat to our local papers. I want to celebrate the local press. It can be immensely irritating to us, but it undertakes a critical public service. When we talk about...

Local and Regional Newspapers (15 Jul 2009)

Mark Williams: On the one hand, I share the hon. Gentleman's optimism about the new technologies, but on the other I am concerned, because we must seek a balance between those two things. I am reticent to say that the younger generation is not interested in local papers, and that is not my experience in my constituency. We must combine new and traditional technologies, and I shall come to that later....

Oral Answers to Questions — Wales: Armed Forces Day 2010 (15 Jul 2009) has video

Mark Williams: As part of those celebrations across Wales and beyond, will the Minister make a specific commitment to endorsing the work of the Royal British Legion and, in particular, the huge amount of pastoral work that it does in supporting ex-servicemen across the country? We are talking not just about an act of remembrance, but about an act of celebration of work that is ongoing.