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 yn "ymroddedig" i academi hyfforddiant amddiffyn arfaethedig

Mynnodd Mr Cameron, wrth siarad ar ddiwrnod agoriadol cynhadledd flynyddol ei blaid ym Manceinion, ei fod yn “ymroddedig” i academi hyfforddiant amddiffyn arfaethedig gwerth £12 biliwn ym Mro Morgannwg, sy’n addo creu 5,000 o swyddi.

Ond fe ddywedodd y byddai’n rhaid adolygu’r cynllun yn gyntaf.

Dywedodd Mr Cameron ei fod eisiau gweld yr academi hyfforddiant amddiffyn yn Sain Tathan - gyda’i addewid o 5,000 o swyddi - yn bwrw ymlaen, ond y dylid hefyd cynnal adolygiad amddiffyn strategol.  Meddai: “Mae pawb eisiau gweld hyn yn digwydd, eisiau iddo fwrw ymlaen...." Mwy…

Rhan o gyfweliad gyda Dr Liam Fox AS, Ysgrifennydd Amddiffyn yr Wrthblaid, BBC Radio Wales, 5.10.09

PETER JOHNSON: Cyflwynydd
A gaf i ofyn i chi’n gryno, allwch chi ddweud ar y rhaglen heddiw p'un a  fyddwch yn fodlon cefnogi Academi Amddiffyn Sain Tathan, sy’n hynod, hynod bwysig i economi Cymru?

DR LIAM FOX AS: Ysgrifennydd Amddiffyn yr Wrthblaid
Wel, rydym ni wedi bod yn gefnogol iawn erioed i brosiect Sain Tathan. Rydym yn credu ei fod yn cynnig dull o gael hyfforddiant o ansawdd uchel ac rwy’n credu fod gan hyfforddiant o ansawdd uchel swyddogaeth hynod bwysig.

PETER JOHNSON:
A fyddwch yn mynd ati i sicrhau fod y gwaith yn mynd yn ei flaen os byddwch yn llywodraethu?

DR LIAM FOX AS:
Wel, rydym yn gefnogol o ran egwyddor. Byddwn yn edrych i weld pa mor gyflym y gallai prosiect o’r fath ddigwydd wrth i ni ymgymryd â’n harolwg amddiffyn strategol.

PETER JOHNSON:
Diolch yn fawr iawn – Liam Fox, Ysgrifennydd Amddiffyn yr Wrthblaid.

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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Mae’r manteision hyfforddiant i’r Weinyddiaeth yn deillio o waith a gyflawnir gan AHA Pecyn 1 a’r bartneriaeth rhwng y Weinyddiaeth a Metrix, yn cynnwys gwella eu gallu i hyfforddi, gwella ymatebol a lleihau costau.

AR yr un pryd, bydd datrysiad Metrix hefyd yn helpu’r Lluoedd arfog i recriwtio a chadw personél trwy ddarparu amgylchedd hyfforddiant a byw i ysbrydoli. Bydd dros 20,000 o fyfyrwyr y flwyddyn yn dod i Sain Tathan i hyfforddi mewn sgiliau mor allweddol â chyfathrebu, awyrennau a logisteg peirianneg electro-fecanyddol. Bydd y sgiliau hyn yn parhau i ddarparu cefnogaeth allweddol i ofynion rheng flaen Lluoedd Arfog y DU Ac wedi eu cyfnod gyda’r Lluoedd, bydd y dynion a menywod ifanc a fynychodd y CTA yn helpu cyfoethogi'r gronfa o dalent yng ngweithlu’r DU diolch i’r cymwysterau a enillwyd yn y coleg, cymwysterau fydd yn gwbl achrededig a throsglwyddadwy i fywyd pob dydd.

Felly, mae’n deg dweud fod y Prosiect 1 Pecyn AHA yn fentrau sylweddol o bwys cenedlaethol. .