Plaid Cymru Senedd Member for Mid and West Wales Cefin Campbell criticised the Welsh Government’s lack of “recognition of the crisis” during First Minister's Questions in the Senedd on Tuesday, March 18. (Video dubbed in English)
In Carmarthenshire, Cefin Campbell’s home county, the percentage of those who speak the language has fallen from 50.3 per cent in 2001 to 39.9 per cent in 2021.
Mr Campbell asked when the Welsh Government would respond to and act on the final report of the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities, which contains policy recommendations to support the language in its strongholds.
The Commission was established in November 2022, as part of the Welsh Government's response to the “socio-economic and societal crisis which has developed in Welsh-speaking communities”, revealed by the results of the 2021 Census.
The Commission's final report was presented to the First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan, during the National Eisteddfod in Pontypridd last August. However, but she was unable to confirm that it will act on its recommendations before the end of this Senedd term. The First Minister said that her government’s response will be published during the Urdd Eisteddfod in May,
Speaking in the Senedd, Mr. Campbell said:
"This is an extremely valuable piece research and reflection by experts in the field, which sets clear recommendations for the Government to enact, including in education, housing, country and town planning and economic development in order to prevent the further deterioration of our Welsh-speaking communities and secure their recovery.
"There are only 14 months left until the next Senedd election. Time is running out to act and the clock is ticking for our Welsh-speaking communities.
"So, when will the Government publish its response to this report, and can we be confident that the recommendations will be implemented before the end of this Senedd term?"
In Carmarthenshire, Cefin Campbell’s home county, the percentage of those who speak the language has fallen from 50.3 per cent in 2001 to 39.9 per cent in 2021.
Mr Campbell asked when the Welsh Government would respond to and act on the final report of the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities, which contains policy recommendations to support the language in its strongholds.
The Commission was established in November 2022, as part of the Welsh Government's response to the “socio-economic and societal crisis which has developed in Welsh-speaking communities”, revealed by the results of the 2021 Census.
The Commission's final report was presented to the First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan, during the National Eisteddfod in Pontypridd last August. However, but she was unable to confirm that it will act on its recommendations before the end of this Senedd term. The First Minister said that her government’s response will be published during the Urdd Eisteddfod in May,
Speaking in the Senedd, Mr. Campbell said:
"This is an extremely valuable piece research and reflection by experts in the field, which sets clear recommendations for the Government to enact, including in education, housing, country and town planning and economic development in order to prevent the further deterioration of our Welsh-speaking communities and secure their recovery.
"There are only 14 months left until the next Senedd election. Time is running out to act and the clock is ticking for our Welsh-speaking communities.
"So, when will the Government publish its response to this report, and can we be confident that the recommendations will be implemented before the end of this Senedd term?"
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NewsTranscript
00:00Y Llywydd, will the Welsh Government be formally responding to the Commission for Welsh-speaking
00:11Communities report, namely Empowering Communities, Strengthening the Welsh Language, published
00:16in August 2024?
00:17OAQ52313 Carwyn Jones AM We are working across Government
00:21to prepare a response to the report's recommendations.
00:23The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Welsh Language has already announced his intention
00:28to publish our response to the report at the Urdd Eisteddfod in May of this year.
00:33Simon Thomas AM Thank you very much.
00:35Iím pleased to hear that there is a clear date set, because youíll remember seven months
00:40ago you received the final report of the Commission in the National Eisteddfod in Pontypridd,
00:50and you know too that it is a very important piece of work that includes a number of recommendations
00:55in vitally important areas in terms of housing, planning, the economy and so on.
01:02This follows, of course, a crisis in those Welsh-speaking strongholds, where Welsh is
01:08spoken as a language every dayóthe areas that you and I represent in the Mid and West
01:13Wales region.
01:15In terms of Carmarthenshire, weíve seen, of course, a decline from 50 per cent in 2011
01:21to 43.9 per cent in 2011 and 39.9 per cent in 2021.
01:30So, it is a crisis.
01:32Youíve responded to the question that I intended to ask at the end, namely, when exactly this
01:38report will receive a response from the Government.
01:42The additional question, therefore, is, will the recommendations of the report be acted
01:48upon during this Senate term?
01:51Carwyn Jones AMN.
01:53Thank you very much.
01:55I remember formally receiving this report.
01:59It was the first formal event for me as First Minister.
02:04I was in a state of shock at the time, I have to say.
02:07But I do think it was a very important report, and itís important that we take time now
02:12to look at the recommendations and consider which we can accept.
02:16All I can say is that, next year, there will be a minimum of £100,000 to every Menteriaidh
02:27as a result of the budget, the budget that you voted against, but also we have allocated
02:35£1 million to support Welsh in Carmarthenshire.
02:40I think itís very important that we keep the level of Welsh up in our strongholds.
02:45There will be another report following on from this one that will look at the Welsh
02:51language across the whole of Wales, but you will receive a response from the relevant
02:56Minister at the end of this year.
02:59Llyr Gruffydd AMN.
03:02Thank you very much.
03:03One of the things that this report notes is the importance of people being able to use
03:07services through the medium of Welsh if they wish to do so.
03:11I remember, I think it was last year, or perhaps the year before that, HSBC closing
03:17its Welsh language line.
03:22Of course, there was a great deal of attention given to that in the Senedd at the time.
03:26But one of the reasons that HSBC gave as to why they got rid of the line is that people
03:31didnít know about it.
03:33So, what work is the Welsh Government doing with services, not just in the public sector,
03:39but also in the private sector and the third sector too, to promote the fact that services
03:45are available through the medium of Welsh and to help people to use them?
03:48Carwyn Jones AMN.
03:49Thank you very much.
03:50It is very important, and I do think that we should thank those businesses that do value
03:57the Welsh language and use the Welsh language in providing their services.
04:03Of course, it is up to them to do that work of ensuring that their customers are aware
04:08of what is available in terms of Welsh language services.
04:12But, of course, we do have a Welsh language division within Welsh Government, which does
04:19great work in promoting the Welsh language.