Hain: new Defence Technical College offers "huge benefits" for Wales and will be a "model for training" in the UK

Welsh Secretary Peter Hain has spoken of the huge benefits the future Defence Technical College (DTC) will bring to South Wales declaring that the College will become a model for training in the UK.

Mr Hain, who was speaking at the Wales in London Summer Reception at the Naval & Military Club in St James’s Square, London on June 25th, recognised the importance of the College as a centre for the development of key skills in communications, aeronautical and electro-mechanical engineering. These are skills, Mr Hain said, which will be invaluable both to the UK Armed Forces, to Wales and to the wider economy.

“Investment in training of the type offered to men and women at the future Defence Technical College will help Britain to keep its place as a leader in key global industries such as aerospace.

We all know that that the UK produces some of the world’s best trained military personnel and the Defence Technical College in St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan will help ensure that this reputation is maintained by Britain as we face the challenges of this century.”

Wales in London is a non-party political organisation which seeks to support Welsh interests in the capital. It was formed in May 1994 from the members of the London Welsh Publicity Society and the London Chapter of the Institute of Welsh Affairs joined forces to form Wales in London.

Cameron "committed" to a planned defence training academy

Mr Cameron, speaking on the opening day of his party's annual conference in Manchester,
insisted he was "committed" to a planned £12bn defence training academy in the Vale of Glamorgan, which promises to create 5,000 jobs.

But he said the scheme would have to be reviewed first.

Mr Cameron said he wanted to see the defence training academy at St Athan - with its promised 5,000 jobs - go ahead but said there should also be a strategic defence review.
He said: "Everyone wants to see it happen, wants it to go ahead...." More…

Extract from an interview with Dr. Liam Fox MP, Shadow Defence Secretary, BBC Radio Wales, 5.10.09

PETER JOHNSON: Presenter
Can I ask you briefly, will you say today on this programme whether or not you will commit to support the St Athan Defence Academy, which is very, very important to the Welsh economy?

DR LIAM FOX MP: Shadow Defence Secretary
Well, we have always been very supportive of the St Athan project.  We think it offers a way to get a high quality training and I think that that high quality training has a major role to play.

PETER JOHNSON:
Will you actually ensure it goes ahead, if you become the government?

DR LIAM FOX MP:
Well, we’re in favour of it in principle.  We will look to see how quickly a project like that could actually happen when we undertake our strategic defence review.

PETER JOHNSON:
Thank you very much - Liam Fox, who is the Shadow Defence Secretary.

Only a curmudgeon would be blind to the benefits of modern motorways but one of their failings is that they neutralise landscape. The surrounding countryside flashes by in a blur, leaving us oblivious to some wonderful mini-regions of the UK. One such is the Vale of Glamorgan. To many people it is little more than a piece of Welsh no-man’s-land on the M4 between the outskirts of Cardiff and Bridgend. Yet this vale seems likely to be a boom area in the next decade.

The flat, dairy farming countryside is very similar in appearance to parts of Devon in west England. It is sprinkled with villages such as Colwinston, St Nicholas and Bonvilston and, like Devon, it has a dramatic coastline. The poet Dannie Abse, who has owned a house in Ogmore for decades, has written frequently about its storm-tossed cliffs and the marvellous “chemical” sunsets. It is little wonder, then, that the Vale of Glamorgan has become a commuter belt for Cardiff’s high-fliers. This is where some of the principality’s media and sports stars live, including rugby player Ieuan Evans, former England cricket captain Tony Lewis and singer Charlotte Church. It is an area much sought after by returning expatriates and incomers from across the border in England. Estate agency Watts and Morgan, which has two offices in the vale, records that 24 per cent of its buyers came from outside Wales in 2007.

Of course the property market in the Vale of Glamorgan has suffered in line with the rest of the UK during the recession. According to the Council for Mortgage Lenders, house prices have dropped 16 per cent in the past year. There are, too, the familiar horror stories of individual homes plummeting in value. Gareth Davies, of Watts and Morgan, says: “I sold a substantial home in Dinas Powys for £1.75m in 2005. It is currently for sale again, this time for £1.15m, and the owners do not look like finding a buyer. Broadly speaking, prices are down to 2004 levels.”

Yet regeneration is in the air. At St Athan, subject to final planning permission being granted next month, the Ministry of Defence aims to build a £12bn Defence Technical College. This project is intended to meet the training requirements of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force and will be designed to equip young sailors, soldiers and airmen with the high-tech skills needed in today’s forces. It will have facilities for 2,000 students, most of whom will live on site, and for 700 training staff, who will largely need private housing.

Next to the technical college, the MoD also plans to build a business park for aerospace companies, notably those that work in aircraft repairs. The location is ideal as companies will be able to carry out their tests at St Athan airstrip. Rob Quick, director of environmental and economic regeneration for the Vale of Glamorgan, says: “These two projects will be an enormous boost to the area. It will bring 1,500 construction jobs in the first place and then it will stimulate up-skilling of the employment pool as local people seek jobs with the new aerospace companies.

“In the long term there are bound to be spin-off benefits for the leisure and tourism industries. The students will have visitors; passing out [graduation] parades will be held; more people will be made aware of this part of the world. The aerospace park, meanwhile, will bring well qualified high-earners here.”

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The training benefits to the MOD derived from the work undertaken by DTR Package 1 and the partnership between the MoD and Metrix, include enhanced training capability enhanced responsiveness and reduced costs.

At the same time, the Metrix solution will also help the Armed Forces to recruit and retain personnel by providing an inspiring training and living environment. More than 20,000 students a year will be coming to St Athan to train in such vital skills as communications, aeronautical and electro-mechanical engineering logistics. These skills will immediately continue to provide critical support to the UK’s Armed Forces’ front line requirements, and beyond their time with the Forces, the young men and women who have attended the DTC will help to enrich the pool of talent in the UK workforce thanks to the training qualifications obtained through the DTC, qualifications which will be fully accredited and transferable to civilian life.

The DTR programme and the DTR Package 1 Project are therefore, by any standard, significant initiatives which are of national importance.