HC Deb 23 July 2004 vol 424 cc725-6W
Mr. Wiggin

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to change the number of Welsh regiments; and if he will make a statement. [183265]

Mr. Caplin

The Defence White Paper published last December established the policy context for shaping the future structure of our armed forces. For the Army, it outlined the vision of a more balanced force that is flexible, rapidly deployable and sustainable for the variety of operational tasks that we envisage it undertaking.

Against this policy guidance, we have been working through the detailed implications for the Army's force structure. We anticipate being in a position to make announcements about the conclusions of this work later in the year.