Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr. Can I thank Jenny Rathbone and everybody else who sponsored this debate, because I think it’s really important that we start to look to the future? When we are developing a new economic strategy, this has got to be a fundamental part of it, and I’m really pleased that Julie James is the person replying to this as she has a real understanding of this technology and the need...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I’d like to start my intervention with a quote from a constituent of mine in Carmarthen: Being a single mother scares me. I had a letter today giving me information as to how much universal credit I’ll be entitled to, and I’m going to be £210 a month worse off. I work 16 hours a week and I’m just about making ends meet now. I dread to think what situation I’m going to be in when I...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, I think it is worth just underlining the massive amount of money that comes into Wales additionally over the block grant as a result of welfare benefits. I think that we would be going down a very, very dangerous avenue if we opened up that can of worms.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. May I start by saying what a pleasure it is to lead this debate on the Welsh Language Commissioner’s annual report? This is the first opportunity for me to speak publicly in the Chamber as Minister, and I have to say how much of a privilege it is to be responsible for Welsh language policy in the Welsh Government. What’s at the heart of...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. May I start by paying tribute to Alun? I'm very pleased that he is back in his seat, because I do want to highlight just how much work he has done on this issue. His commitment to the Welsh language has been absolute, and he has been driving these ideas forward and aiming towards that target of a million Welsh speakers. I know that I can rely on Alun to help me in driving...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, we need to listen to everyone in Wales. I think that’s important. There are professionals, there are others, and we need to listen to everyone, and we must reach the million. We have to listen to those people who will be learning Welsh. I want to listen to those people who don’t currently speak Welsh. I want to hear their opinions. Now, maybe they have responded, perhaps they...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: carrots rather than sticks. I would also like to use carrots. I am very clear that, if you’re talking about language, you’ve got to persuade people. You can’t make people use a language.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I think we have to be persuasive, rather than insisting that people do things. We do need more details in terms of the number of complainants and what was the efficiency of the commissioner’s office. I want to see benchmarking happening. And that’s something that jumped out at me, namely that only four in five children actually learn Welsh. We must look into the reasons behind that. So,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: May I thank Siân Gwenllian very much for that? It’s quite right that I have committed to sticking to that target of achieving a million Welsh speakers. Education is crucial. That is the foundation, and that is the only way that we are going to attain it. At present, I am looking at a new strategy for Welsh-medium education for our schools. Of course, you will be aware that Aled is...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I do think that there is very much that we can do to improve the teaching of Welsh as a second language to pupils in Wales, but I would like to look at the evidence to see what works. I am a new Minister and I have the right to look at the way in which the new strategy is going to appear. I’m not going to commit to something that will mean that I have to stick to a plan until 2021 until...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Certainly, at times you need the stick in addition to the carrot, I quite agree. But meanwhile, while we’re awaiting the new standards, for example on health—and I will be looking at those over the ensuing weeks—what is important, I believe, is that we keep the pressure on these private companies. I’ve already asked the officials in the department to ensure that I know of any cases...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, I’m not a Cabinet Secretary, but I will respond to that question, and that is that the consultation on the White Paper, of course, closed about 15 days ago. We now have time to analyse the responses and we will bring some kind of response forward over the ensuing few weeks.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, I think that what we need to look at is success stories in language growth. There are examples in Europe: the Basque Country, for example, has been extremely successful, and I'm sure there are other examples. I will now set about studying those. But what is important is that we keep our eye on this. It's a question of priorities. That is what Nye Bevan used to say—you have to just...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, the Welsh Government makes sure that, in the most deprived communities, we offer tailored support, and we're really involved in the communities. We give support to unemployed households, to workless households, people who are disabled, redundant, and, of course, NEETs—people who are not in education, employment or training. And we mentor and support people to make sure that they can...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. Absolutely. We are very committed to this agenda. In the new year, you will see that we're going to be bringing out an employability action plan, and a part of that action plan will be to make sure that people—. We have a special programme, Working Wales, and when people go through a particular gateway—everyone will be put through a particular gateway, because there are so...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. I do think that it’s important that we focus on this aspect of mental health, because there’s so much of it in Wales and it’s important that we work for the individual and that we can adapt things for the individual. What we’re attempting to do in this new plan is to ensure that we’re working across Government. And so, we’ll be working with the health...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Rhianon. Absolutely. We are trying to work cross-departmentally. If you think that we've got a budget of about £15 billion, we need to make sure that every penny of that we use to the maximum, and working cross-departmentally makes absolute sense. What I've been doing is to meet independently and individually with different Ministers to make sure that they are...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. Welsh Government’s plans and targets for attaining the target of a million Welsh speakers are included in the 2017-21 ‘Cymraeg 2050’ strategy work programme.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, we do collaborate, and I think the first thing that should be said is that there is an understanding that you have to focus on those early years, and it's fair to say that we do have a strategy in place for childcare. And it's important—it's vital—that, for everything that goes through the Government now, we ask, 'What are you doing to support the Welsh language? And therefore that...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, you're quite right. One of our targets is to ensure that people are not just able to speak Welsh but to use the Welsh language, and so it's important we give them opportunities to do so. And, in small businesses, ensuring that people are aware that you can use the Welsh language when you deal with them is important. So, there are strategies that we will be developing in order to ensure...
