Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. I actually think, despite the fact that this is later than we'd hoped in terms of publishing the strategy, the timing has actually worked out very well. There have been a lot of shifting sands, let's face it, in the past few months, and now at least we know where we stand on Brexit, and it does mean that it's easier. And I think the timing is very important, in terms of...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch, Darren, and thanks for your continuing interest in the international work that we undertake. I'm glad that you acknowledge that we need to strengthen and deepen our relationship with the EU and the nations and regions of the European Union, irrespective of the fact that we will now be leaving. Thank you also for drawing attention to the fact that we have emphasised three sectors that...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We'll develop a new, ambitious approach to reach out to our diaspora and our alumni networks. We know that culture, sport and our expertise in minority languages development will help set us apart from other nations. Last year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan was a wonderful example of how Wales can sell itself on the world stage, building on the success of sport to promote Wales and Welsh...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, Llywydd. In just over two weeks' time, the United Kingdom will be leaving the European Union. This will fundamentally change the relationship that we have had with our closest neighbours for 40 years—a relationship that has brought positive benefits for Wales in almost all spheres of life. But this is not a statement about Brexit, not about its fact or its form; this is a...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, I would like to congratulate him. I just think it's remarkable that anyone can get anywhere near this. This is phenomenal in terms of the scope of what they have to achieve. My cousin did it this year and it was quite incredible, the stamina that you need to do it, and they start at some ridiculous time of the morning as well. So, congratulations to anyone who gets anywhere near this....
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We're committed to building on Wales's success in hosting major events and work proactively with event owners from Wales, the UK and internationally to maximise the wider benefits of events, sporting, cultural or business, to communities across Wales.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: So, we do have to be aware that we are very keen to reach this target, but to make that work we have to make sure that we have the right number of people in place who can actually teach. So, that's why we have 350 practitioners who will benefit from this Camau programme. What that is is free access to Welsh language training by childcare and play practitioners. The fact is that we now have...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The early years sector is vital to our aim of reaching 1 million Welsh speakers. We're working on programmes such as Progress for Success and Camau to develop Welsh language skills within the current workforce and ensuring that those joining the sector can use the language confidently.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, we have ensured that we are co-operating better with the language commissioner. We have a memorandum of understanding so that we know who’s doing what, so that we’re not duplicating the work that we’re doing as a Government and the work that he is doing as commissioner. I do think that savings can be made, therefore, in that area, because we’re not duplicating work. In terms of...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I think it’s important that people understand that Welsh is mainstreamed across Government. The fact is that we haven’t seen cuts in the funding for the Welsh language. What has happened is that some of the expenditure that was in the budget for the education lines has moved to another line, and that is why, perhaps, there was some confusion as to whether cuts had been introduced. We have...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. The 2020-21 draft budget includes over £37 million for the Welsh language. Of this, around £13 million is directly related to promotion activities. Our grant partners play an important role in providing opportunities for people to use the language. We’re pleased to continue to fund 27 partners and 52 papurau bro.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. Well, we have had long conversations with the sector, they've certainly been very involved in helping us to develop the strategy, and I do think we should be proud of our record in terms of promoting peace from Wales. As you say, the Urdd's message to the world annually is something that I think we should be really proud of and something that we should be celebrating, certainly...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, I'm not going to back away from our commitment to support the cyber sector in Wales. It is something that I think we should be really proud of, and the fact that we're developing the cyber centre in Ebbw Vale, an area of massive deprivation, where there is a commitment to help develop an education facility there, there have been events to encourage women, in particular, to enter into...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The international strategy will be based upon a clear set of values as outlined in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. At its heart, it will promote the three themes of creativity, sustainability and technology, with the core value of promoting Wales as a globally responsible nation.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, I know that the events people at the ICC work very, very closely with Cardiff council and understand that, actually, if they do have a major event and they don't have the capacity, even with the Celtic Manor and the other hotels that they own nearby, that actually, they need to share the prosperity and they're anxious to share the prosperity. The ICC, I think, is a really unique...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I think 2034 is quite a long time frame, it's quite a long horizon for us to be working towards. It's got to be made clear that this has got to be balanced out against other initiatives that are also in play. For example, the new Prime Minister has said that he's very keen to host the football world cup. There are opportunities and we just have to work out—we can't do everything—which one...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. Well, I haven't had a recent meeting with the Commonwealth Games people, but I'll attempt to see if I can find out if they have made any progress in trying to get teams to base themselves here in Wales. So, this is something that we're obviously very interested in progressing, because we want to get as much focus as we can during that time on Wales. I'm aware that the Urdd...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: What a brilliant idea. That's certainly something that I'd like to follow up on. I have regular meetings with the Celtic Manor hotel and the people responsible for the ICC, and that's certainly a great idea that I'll pursue with vigour. Thank you.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We proactively work with partners in Wales, the UK and internationally to identify and pursue long-term hosting targets for attracting major cultural, sporting and business events to all parts of Wales. In addition, we support the establishment, growth and development of a wide range of home-grown events in Wales.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, that's absolutely right, and it was great to see Hedd Wyn being nominated in that situation for an Oscar. But, there were several examples before that. My first job was to sell animation for S4C and there were several occasions when S4C's animation production companies in Wales actually succeeded in those international arenas as well. I think one of the things that we do need to...
