2. Urgent Question: Ministry of Defence Sites in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:28 pm on 8 November 2016.

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Photo of Carl Sargeant Carl Sargeant Labour 2:28, 8 November 2016

I thank the Member for his question. He is right to say that communities have been formed around many of these bases, and there are long-standing links between the armed forces and local communities. In many cases, they are very good relationships and they work in the communities—as Joyce Watson said, it is about volunteering and sharing skills and opportunities. We have a very good relationship with the armed forces—the army, the navy and the Royal Air Force—and other emergency services here in Wales. This announcement was made by the UK Government, and we are disappointed also that we weren’t given a heads up regarding this. There are indirect consequences of exit; I am not aware yet of the whole picture. We haven’t had time to establish what those concerns are, but of course people in communities like the Gurkhas, the Nepalese and people in Brecon and Radnorshire are part of the local community. Of course, we will look at what the impact is for that community and for broader communities in Brecon and also in Pembrokeshire. But I do go back to what I said earlier: I believe that the UK Government has a duty to support exit strategies for any communities that they are removing bases from here in Wales.