I do think it's important to reflect on the work of the cross-party group. The cross-party group, under the very able chairmanship of Darren Millar, has succeeded in raising the profile of the armed services here in the Assembly, and also the Assembly within the armed forces community, because I think that’s really important. It was only some 12 months ago that several Members from this institution tromped up to the Sennybridge training camp and saw the wonderment that is the training programme that the army put on for their soldiers. Some engaged far more willingly than others, putting the camouflage gear on and face paint. I think that they were just aspiring to be soldiers themselves—the chairman, in particular, trying to do that. In recent times, in September, obviously spending some time with the RAF in Valley, and seeing the footprint up in north Wales as to the great work—and, considering it's very close to the centenary of the RAF, how appropriate that was for the all-party group to attend RAF Valley and see what a great economic boost to the island Valley is. Because the many personnel that they bring on to the island obviously leave with fond memories and come back over the years as well. I know that there’s a commitment from the navy to, obviously, host the all-party group as well.

So, I do hope that the Minister, in his contribution this afternoon, will engage with the report and ultimately map out how he would take forward some—or, indeed, all—of the recommendations in it. Because they are made from the armed forces community, because, being a cross-party group, obviously, the community came together in compiling this report. It is worth noting that the call for a commissioner to be put in place to support the Government’s work and, obviously, to report back to the Assembly on progress in some of the areas that need progress isn’t on the lines of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales or the Older People's Commissioner for Wales, which is a different commissioner altogether. Scotland have a very good role model that we could look to, and it can be done with very modest means and drive forward progress in this field. I also think that the recommendations in the report that obviously capture, at the moment, the centenary commemorations around the first world war are worthy of consideration, as to how those commemorations can, as we go forward, be taken on. Because, obviously, as has been pointed out earlier, there are no veterans left from those conflicts now, and it is incumbent on us to make sure that future generations do have the ability to remember, recall, and ultimately never forget those tragic lessons that we needed to learn to defend our democracy and defend our way of life. Again, I do commend the Government on the way that they have put those events together, but I do believe that, as the report highlights, it does need to have some thought now as to what we do post the commemorations and the series of commemorations on other conflicts that the armed forces have been engaged with.

I was very pleased to see such prominence around the military covenant. Because it was the current mayor of the Vale of Glamorgan, Councillor Janice Charles, when she was the cabinet member back in 2009, I think it was, who signed the Vale of Glamorgan Council up to be the first council in Wales to be signed up to the military covenant. Now, I’m very pleased to say that all 22 local authorities are signed up to the commitments within that covenant. But, above all, what is really important, I think, is to focus on the positives that the military can offer a young person who wishes to seek a career in our armed forces. It is right that we focus on the support that we put in place for people coming out of the armed services. But, if I could just close on this one point, Deputy Presiding Officer, it is worth reflecting that, when people do go into the workplace, coming out of the military, there is a high recognition for the experience of working in and leading teams, flexibility and the ability to work in stressful, fast-paced, dynamic environments, a dependable and strong work ethic, displaying integrity and loyalty, and expertise in culturally diverse and global working environments. Those are the characteristics that any employer would be very pleased to welcome into their team in civvy street, as it were, and I do believe that sometimes we do need to be promoting more about the positives that the armed forces can offer young people, from wherever they might come, and in particular with the great tradition we have here in Wales of providing a higher number of service personnel than maybe our percentage of the overall population of the UK. So, I hope the Chamber will find support for this motion before it today.