Thank you very much and thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this debate in order to discuss the Welsh Language Commissioner’s annual report. I would also like to thank the commissioner and her team for their work during the year.

This is a report looking back, and, as important as that is, we were eager to move the debate forward. That is why Plaid Cymru tabled a number of amendments to this motion, based specifically on the need for the Government to take action in terms of workforce planning policy. I am very pleased that you are willing to accept those amendments. It is a clear signal of your commitment in this area. If we are to increase the use of the Welsh language as well as the number of Welsh speakers then we do need to take action in a number of different areas, and education will be a core element, if the Government is to achieve its target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050. The lack of progress in Welsh-medium education is a cause of increasing concern and is an issue that will have to be taken into account when the Government sets specific targets in order to implement and achieve its strategy.

The amendments that we’ve tabled today relate to workforce planning in order to ensure that provision is available to offer services through the medium of Welsh, including education. Clearly, we will need to significantly increase the number of teachers and early years practitioners as a starting point to achieve that target of a million Welsh speakers, and there are a number of opportunities that do arise in order to do that—for example, extending free childcare to 30 hours, which would provide an opportunity, reforming teacher training and the Donaldson reforms. These are all opportunities for the Welsh language. Other issues that we could look at are financial incentives and extending the sabbatical scheme for teachers.

The other report that you mentioned, ‘Time to set the standard’, by the Welsh Language Commissioner, is another important report, and the commissioner in that report states that institutions need to change gear and to provide public services of a high quality that would enable Welsh speakers to increase their use of the Welsh language in their daily lives. The commissioner does believe that a number of organisations have flatlined in terms of growth in Welsh language services while others have taken significant retrograde steps in providing Welsh language services over the past few years.

Indeed, the report that we’re discussing today does note that even the Government has failed to implement some aspects of its own Welsh language policies. In May of last year, a statutory inquiry report on the implementation of the Welsh Government’s Welsh language scheme was published. The inquiry was held on the basis of doubts that the commissioner had in terms of linguistic requirements in recruiting the new Children’s Commissioner for Wales and the consideration given to the Government’s Welsh language scheme in revising the original job specification. The commissioner came to the conclusion that the Government had failed to implement two clauses of its own Welsh language scheme as part of that recruitment exercise, and I’m sure that you would agree with me that, if the leadership is to come from Government, then those issues cannot continue to arise.

We have discussed the report of the working group on Welsh language and local government, namely ‘Language, Work and Bilingual Services’, in the Assembly already and some sections of that report do make specific reference to the need for the Government to ensure that there is a statutory duty on local authorities, including in their function as a local education authority, to plan the workforce in terms of linguistic skills and to prepare appropriate training to meet those demands. As you mentioned, we are still awaiting the outcome of the consultation on the recommendations of this working group, but I’m pleased that you have said that this is in the pipeline. Some of the points that Plaid Cymru would want to see the Government taking action on are as follows: we need to provide Welsh language lessons for staff through plans such as Welsh in the workplace; we must include linguistic requirements in recruitment policies; we need to conduct an audit in order to see what the skills gap is, particularly in front-line posts; and we need to plan the workforce in a meaningful way. If the rights of Welsh speakers that are established through the standards are truly to take root, then we must plan the workforce that can provide those services in full.

So, this is a report that we welcome, but it does also highlight some of the problems. The problems have been known for some time, and the Government does now need to take action. The information, the policies and the expertise is available in order to achieve success in this area, and the Government must show the desire and the political leadership to implement this. I do know that you, as Minister, are sincere in your commitment to the Welsh language. The small increase in funding for plans to support the Welsh language that has been secured by Plaid Cymru in the budget is a step in the right direction, but in the words of the Welsh Language Commissioner—and I return to what she said—we must see a change of gear. I would add that that has to happen as a matter of urgency. So, I do hope that everyone can support these amendments so that we can concentrate on action. Thank you.