6. Will the First Minister provide an update on Welsh Government support for the armed forces community? OQ56980

I thank the Member. The Welsh Government remains committed to continue and build upon the wide range of support provided for our armed forces community in Wales. Our third armed forces covenant annual report, which was published on 22 June, highlights the progress made and our future plans.

Thank you for that response, First Minister. One of the things that the armed forces community in Wales really does value and appreciate is the opportunity to commemorate significant events in military history and to reflect and remember those who have fallen in those periods of conflict. One of the successes that we've seen in Wales in recent years in terms of being able to commemorate events has been the Cymru'n Cofio programme, which I thought was absolutely superb and ought to have continued into the future. What consideration has the Welsh Government given to picking the Cymru'n Cofio programme back up so that it can incorporate future anniversaries of significance, including, for example, next year's fortieth anniversary of the Falklands war, in which 48 people from Wales were killed and there were 97 casualties? These are the sorts of significant events that I think we need to be able to plan well in advance for. I wonder what you're able to tell us today about commemoration of that particular event and whether you can set up another sort of Cymru'n Cofio-type programme for the future.

I thank the Member for that question. I agree with him, of course, on the importance of commemoration of these major events. Next week, Llywydd, as I think you know, I will represent Wales at the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the British legion at the service of commemoration at Westminster abbey. And, indeed, in the following week, I will take part at Brecon barracks in a commemoration event of the actions that Welsh troops were involved in in the second world war in liberating parts of Holland.

The Member asks about the conflict that happened in the Falklands; it'll be 40 years next year. I know that the Member himself was involved in the commemoration of the thirty-fifth anniversary here at the Senedd. I'm happy to tell him that discussions have already taken place with the Scottish Government to make sure that we're aware of what's happening there, and discussions are planned to take place with the UK Government through the Ministry of Defence. We will want to make sure that Wales is aligned with whatever UK-wide commemorative events are planned, but I do know that local events are already being thought about. In Wrexham, there is to be an event jointly held between local organisations and the Welsh Guards, and the South Atlantic Medal Association, I understand, is considering a commemorative event here in Cardiff. So, I thank the Member for drawing attention to the need to plan ahead for this and give him an assurance that, both at whatever national events are planned but in supporting those local events as well, the Welsh Government will want to play our part.

I'm grateful to you for that answer, First Minister; you’ll have support for all of that across the whole of the Chamber. But, it’s also important to support serving armed forces today, and to ensure that we have bases and locations in Wales that are able to support and sustain today’s armed forces. In the past we have had debates here about a firm-base strategy to enable us to support and sustain additional location of the UK armed forces in this county, to support and sustain the industries that support our armed forces, and also to ensure that we can continue to offer training facilities for the armed forces. Would the Welsh Government, therefore, be prepared to make a statement on how it will take forward a firm-base strategy so that we can continue to support today’s armed forces as well?

I thank Alun Davies for that question. He draws attention to a very important point. Wales is 5 per cent of the UK population, yet we provide 9 per cent of serving personnel, and we have 2.5 per cent of them based here in Wales. So, we contribute nearly twice our population share, and yet we have half our population share in terms of the basing strategy of the armed forces. I have raised this directly—I’m sure others have too—with UK Ministers who are responsible for the UK Government’s integrated review, which they are currently carrying out. I think they’re right to be concerned about that review. The future of the Brecon barracks is not settled. There is a very important army presence in west Wales, which we know is—well, let’s put it no more than 'under consideration' as part of that review.

The current UK Government talks a lot about its commitment to the United Kingdom. One of the bits of the glue that holds the United Kingdom together, I believe, is that we have a common set of armed forces across the whole of the UK. It’s therefore, I think, incumbent upon the UK Government to demonstrate to all component parts of the United Kingdom that they get a fair share of the practical impact of those armed forces in the four nations. Wales doesn’t have that at present, I believe. I hope the integrated review will help to put that right. Alun Davies asked about a Government statement, and I’m happy to say that we would be prepared to make such a statement once the results of the integrated review are published, which are expected this autumn.