The following amendments have been selected: amendment 1 in the name of Jane Hutt, and amendment 2 in the name of Paul Davies.

The next item is the Plaid Cymru debate, and I call on Llyr Gruffydd to move the motion.

Motion NDM6134 Rhun ap Iorwerth

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

1. Notes the Welsh Government’s target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

2. Regrets that the percentage of seven-year-old learners being taught through the medium of Welsh has stagnated in recent years.

3. Calls on the Welsh Government to strengthen Welsh-medium provision across all education sectors as a central part of its strategy to achieve this target.

Motion moved.

Thank you, Llywydd, and I speak to this motion in the name of Plaid Cymru. Now, the intention, of course, in bringing this debate forward this afternoon is not to question the Welsh Government’s commitment to this target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050, nor is it to doubt the consensus that I’m sure exists in this Assembly to work towards that particular target. But, one of the aims of tabling this debate in the Assembly this afternoon was to highlight or, perhaps, underline the enormity of the efforts required in order to double the number of Welsh speakers in just 30 years. It is an increase the likes of which hasn’t been seen in the history of the Welsh language, and an increase, therefore, that will be extremely challenging for us all, whether we be Welsh speakers or non-Welsh speakers. It’s a journey that will insist that we work in a way that is certainly creative and very determined, and, above all else, I suppose, that we are courageous in our approach. If the Government shows those characteristics in working towards this target of a million Welsh speakers over the next few years, then we on these benches will certainly be content to join you on that journey.

Now, the recent consultation on the Welsh Government’s draft strategy for a million Welsh speakers by 2050 does include a number of positive statements about that target and how it can be achieved. One of the central aspects of the strategy, of course, and the key factor in my view, and the other reason for this debate, of course, is the acknowledgment of the important role that education has to play in that effort. As the draft strategy states,

‘We need to see a significant increase in the number of people receiving Welsh-medium education and who have Welsh language skills, as it is only through enabling more people to learn Welsh that we will reach a million speakers.’

Now, the current system doesn’t promote and support Welsh-medium education sufficiently to reach that Government target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050. The statistics demonstrate that there has been a decline in the percentage of seven-year-old learners being taught through the medium of Welsh between 2013 and 2014, and no change between 2014 and 2015—22.2 per cent is the latest figure. There was an increase in the absolute number of children, but a decline in the percentage, and the truth is that the figure has stagnated for a number of years, varying from somewhere below 22 per cent in 2010 to a little over 22 per cent today.

Now, I’m no statistician, but if we are to double the number of Welsh speakers, then one would expect that we would need to double the number of those choosing Welsh-medium education, for example. If we can increase the number of year 2 pupils, which is the cohort of seven-year-olds assessed as first-language Welsh speakers, from 22 per cent to, let’s say, 50 per cent, then that would represent an additional 10,000 children, based on the 2015 figures. It would mean providing over 300 Welsh-medium classes across Wales for children at seven years of age.

That is the scale of the challenge we’re facing and the scale of the effort required. And, of course, you could multiply that, then, across the early years, primary education, secondary education, further education, higher education, lifelong learning, and so on. The early years are crucially important, because the earlier a child comes into contact with the language, the greater his or her chance is of becoming a fluent speaker. Those aren’t my words, but the words of the Government in its draft strategy, and, naturally, I agree with that. Unfortunately, of course, the level of language transference between children and their parents is relatively low. In 2015 only 6.5 per cent of five-year-olds spoke Welsh fluently at home, and that was down from 7 per cent in 2012. We are reliant, therefore, on the care and early years education system to ensure that children begin that journey of becoming of becoming bilingual, given that that doesn’t happen naturally in the home. If you get them early for the Welsh language, the likelihood that they will actually be able to speak the language and use the language is far, far greater. Now, 86 per cent of children attending Welsh-medium ‘cylchoedd meithrin’ will transfer to Welsh-medium primary schools, and the majority of those who don’t do that don’t do so because the Welsh-medium provision isn’t available to them very often.

Now, there is then a glorious opportunity, therefore, in light of the Government’s agreement with Plaid Cymru on enhancing childcare as a means of achieving much of what we want to see happening. And I said yesterday, in response to a statement by the Cabinet Secretary on that policy, and, indeed, in light of evidence that he provided to the committee last week, where he said that he would want to ensure that this policy responds to demand—I said, of course, that we need to move away from that attitude. Introducing that target of 1 million Welsh speakers has to be a statement that the days of just responding to demand are long gone. That’s the approach of the past, being reactive in this context. All the Government, education authorities and everyone else’s thinking has to change significantly to be a proactive one from here on in, and generate that demand through promoting, encouraging, and creating the provision and infrastructure to correspond, then, of course, to that. As Cymdeithas yr Iaith said, it would take more than 800 years for each child to receive Welsh-medium education if the current pattern of growth continued. And I’m certainly not going to settle for that.

Now, ensuring appropriate action for Welsh-medium education and training, of course, is crucially important for the success of the strategy—something that’s recognised by the Government, when they state that that, of course, means planning in order to support student teachers and classroom assistance, enhance sabbatical schemes for the current workforce, and significantly increasing the number of workers in the childcare and early years sector. The Government, of course, are announcing their 10-year plan for the early years workforce and childcare in the spring. Of all the plans brought forward by this Government that can influence the future of the Welsh language, this, in my view, is one of the most crucial. And this, to all intents and purposes, in my view, will be a test of how serious the Government is in terms of achieving their target of 1 million Welsh speakers.

Will the Member give way?

Yes.

Diolch. The weight of the discussions around increasing the provision of Welsh-medium education—. We know that only around 16 per cent of children are educated through the medium of Welsh, which means that the majority, the overwhelming majority, of schoolchildren in Wales get taught Welsh at some level as a second language. Now, there’s a lot of evidence to show the quality of that in English-medium schools in Wales is poor or patchy, and yet we don’t talk in these debates about how we increase the level of Welsh teaching in English-medium schools. So, what can we do to address that generation of children who are getting very poor provision at the minute?

Well, it’s a shame that the Member doesn’t recall that we raised this in the Chamber just a few weeks ago, the quality of teaching Welsh as a second language, and that the Minister himself made a clear statement about the direction of travel for Government in that particular area. I’m not going to use my time now, because that is an issue that has been previously discussed here in this Chamber, but certainly there is recognition and there is some movement on that front in order to tackle that issue.

Now, I live in the north-east of Wales, where we saw, of course, the first Welsh-medium secondary school established in the 1950s, where people had to fight very hard, as was the case in many areas in the 1960s and 1970s, for Welsh-medium education, but that battle is, of course, not over. In counties such as Wrexham, Denbighshire and Flintshire, you see the battles that are happening, not only to enhance provision but also to protect the existing provision. In Wrexham, the increasing demand for Welsh-medium education has led to parents, in certain circumstances now, not being able to get their children in to, for example, Ysgol Bro Alun, although it was only opened three years ago in order to meet demand in the Gwersyllt area. All Welsh-medium primary schools in the county are full to overflowing, but there’s no intention to build a new school. The only secondary school faces a huge challenge, with the expectation that 1,400 will attend by 2024. If we look at the WESP for the county for the future, there is no recognition that demand has gone unmet and that more places are needed.

In Flintshire, which was once so innovative in this area, there was a recent threat to Ysgol Gymraeg Mornant, the only Welsh-medium school in the north of the county, which was at threat of closure. If that had happened, it would have meant travelling to Holywell for Welsh-medium education, given that the Welsh school in Prestatyn is full. The truth is, of course, that only 5 per cent of children in the county receive Welsh-medium education—a figure that has been stagnant for many years, and I know that that is a cause of disappointment for many.

In Denbighshire—and I will declare an interest as a parent and governor of Ysgol Pentrecelyn—there has been a battle to protect the language status of the provision for children there, and it was a great pleasure for me to read the papers to be placed before the cabinet next week that now recommend that the provision should be maintained there. But, of course, that has been the result of a battle and a judicial challenge.

Now, that’s my experience in the north-east; everyone else will have different experiences. There are positive experiences, of course, and we can refer to many of those in Gwynedd, Carmarthenshire and in other parts of Wales. But the message is, of course, that planning is crucially important, and ensuring that we have strong WESPs is also important in order to drive this provision forward.

My fellow Members will expand on a number of other aspects. We know of further education, higher education, and lifelong learning too—we shouldn’t forget the provision there. But the education field is just one aspect of the effort to create 1 million Welsh speakers, but it is a crucially important aspect. I think we will see, over the next few months, how serious the Government is in reality in terms of attaining that target. And as I said at the outset, if this Government shows the willingness to be creative, determined and courageous, then I, and many of us here, I’m sure, will be happy to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Government on that journey.

I have selected the two amendments to the motion. I call on the Minister to formally move amendment 1, tabled in the name of Jane Hutt.

Amendment 1—Jane Hutt

Delete point 2 and replace with:

Acknowledges that growing the number of learners receiving their education through the medium of Welsh has and will continue to be central to Welsh Government education and skills policy.

Amendment 1 moved.

Formally.

I call on Suzy Davies to move amendment 2, tabled in the name of Paul Davies.

Amendment 2—Paul Davies

Add as new point at end of motion:

Calls on the Welsh Government to work with businesses to improve the use and learning of Welsh in the workplace.

Amendment 2 moved.

Thank you, Llywydd. May I thank Plaid Cymru also for tabling this debate today? We will be supporting the motion, and we would have been happy to support the Government’s amendment too, but it deletes point 2. I can’t see why the Government couldn’t accept the point, identify the reasons why and contrast that with the new ambitions for their forthcoming strategy. I move the amendment too.

Now, the reasons why—well, why don’t we start with local authorities? They should have grasped their obligation to promote the Welsh language by now. The Welsh in education statutory plans have failed. It’s a waste of money asking councils to do investigative work or promoting work if they’re not going to act upon the results. Worse than that, it just reinforces existing perceptions that Welsh language policy to date has been more about political vanity and box-ticking than a deep-seated will to develop a bilingual nation.

A lack of leadership and direction has resulted in demand for Welsh-medium education that is growing slowly and uncertainly across council areas in my region. There is no convenient concentration to plan for the building of new schools, therefore we’re seeing the centralisation of provision, drawing visible Welshness out of communities for the benefit of one site, which is sometimes at some distance from children’s homes. That doesn’t help with another of the Government’s priorities, which is to grow the use of Welsh in all communities. And it may be inconvenient enough for some families not to follow up on their good intentions, halting and reversing demand. Another temptation is to ignore demand—letting existing Welsh-medium overflow to the point where, once again, demand is stifled in its early stages.

Let us worry less about building schools in centralised locations, which will be too small or too big in the medium term, and look more closely at growing Welsh-medium use on existing school sites. Now, to be clear, this isn’t a distraction from the need for new Welsh-medium schools. It’s an additional option for councils that that are in this time trap, if I can describe it like that, which I’ve just described. I’m not talking either about bilingual schools. I’m talking about existing English-medium schools, which have Welsh-medium units that are co-located, but are separate, that grow year on year with each new intake. At the same time, as we’ve discussed before, Lee Waters, English-medium schools need to increase the use of Welsh as a medium of communication. There is still a need for those who are in the English-language system to have the opportunity to develop decent Welsh language skills for use in their future lives.

Now, I accept that this creates a huge challenge for the Welsh Government—I accept that: a curriculum that insists upon dedicated use of Welsh in English-medium schools; school sites that are flexible and that accommodate growing Welsh demand, and, possibly, dropping English demand as a result; and, of course, as Llyr has mentioned, a workforce that can educate well in such a system, or whatever. In the meantime, of course, we have to consider the children and young people who are going through the system that we already have, and how likely it is that they’ll get a chance to acquire sufficient Welsh language skills for continued use after school, and that they value enough to pass on to their children in due course. These are the generations that are facing the double-whammy of the reluctance—a poor experience at school, as Lee has said, and an employment market where employers don’t see the use of Welsh as something that is important.

Standards have a role, but as you will have heard from me before, if business doesn’t believe that bilingualism is a virtue, then you’re looking at another roadblock to your aim of 1 million speakers. There are opportunities for the Coleg Cymraeg to offer Welsh-medium education in further education colleges, and I hope, Minister, that you’re actively considering those. There are also opportunities for relevant Welsh language skills to be developed in vocational course that lead to public-facing careers, such as social care, retail, hair and beauty, and so forth. College leaders seem confused I talk about this distinction, but Welsh-medium education is not the sole responsibility of creating Welsh speakers. Thank you.

We need between 15,000 and 18,000 additional Welsh speakers every year, over a period of 30 years, if we are to reach the aim of 1 million Welsh speakers. And that is on top of addressing the number of people who leave Welsh communities and Wales. The role of education is key in getting to that target. By now, the vast majority of people who speak Welsh have learnt it at school. Compare that with the situation in the middle of the last century and before that, when the vast majority learnt the language at home. I happen to be one of those fortunate people who acquired the language in the home as the natural first language of our family, but that is not the experience of an increasing number of people, unfortunately. Because, by now, transferring the language in the home is not as effective as it was in the past, because there are fewer families now where both parents speak Welsh.

Therefore, it’s clear that there is a need to increase the Welsh-medium education provision in order to produce 1 million Welsh speakers. At the moment, the percentage of children in Welsh-medium education is not increasing, and this is despite the evidence that there is significant demand for Welsh-medium education—a demand that isn’t being met in the majority of places in Wales. WESPs are key in creating the massive change that is required. Since 2013 local authorities have had a legal duty to assess the demand for Welsh-medium education and to identify how the authority is going to improve the Welsh-medium provision in their area. And the Welsh Government has a central role to ensure that these plans are ambitious and robust. Unfortunately, that isn’t the situation. In December 2015, the Children, Young People and Education Committee found that these plans were not effective, and 17 recommendations were made to the Government. To be completely effective, the plans need to promote Welsh-medium education as well as respond to any demand, and authorities must define in their education plans where a new school or schools will be built, and when they’re going to be built.

In Caerphilly County Borough Council there has been a highly laudable effort over the years to ensure that there is a sufficient number of schools to meet the demand for Welsh-medium education. There’s been an increase from four Welsh primary schools to 11, but there is still increasing demand for places, particularly in the three schools in Caerphilly itself. A survey was conducted by the Parents for Welsh-medium Education group in Risca, and they found that a significant number of parents would send their children to a Welsh-medium school if that school was available locally.

So, the demand is there, not only in Caerphilly but across Wales. Part of the solution is to build more schools. Therefore, the Government needs to ensure that there is funding available to local authorities that want to increase the provision of Welsh-medium schools because, as far as I know, beyond the twenty-first century schools programme, which is for a different purpose, no money is available. Also, as part of the language strategy that the Government is consulting on at the moment, the Government will have to include a detailed strategy on how many additional teachers and support staff schools in Wales will need to ensure that the education sector contributes greatly to the target of 1 million Welsh speakers.

Just a quick word on the higher and further education sectors. We are proud of the success of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol that is now extending the opportunities for Welsh-medium education in our universities. I’m very pleased to see that there will be a review of the Coleg Cymraeg by the Cabinet Secretary, which will include looking at extending Welsh-medium provision to the further education sector, as well as the higher education sector, where so many of our young people are studying.

By the way, we’re also keen to see many more apprenticeships being offered, either through the medium of Welsh or with some activities through the medium of Welsh. Out of nearly 50,000 apprenticeships only 165, which is 0.34 per cent, included some Welsh—one Welsh activity was all that was needed to be included. Clearly, therefore, there is a need for a transformational change in every aspect of Welsh-medium education if we are going to have any hope of reaching the aim of 1 million Welsh speakers.

I intend to use both English and Welsh in this contribution.

Yn gyntaf, ble fydd y 1 miliwn o siaradwyr Cymraeg yn 2050? A ydyn nhw yng Nghymru, ym Mhrydain neu dros y byd?

The 2011 census, which showed a decline in the number of Welsh speakers, compared with 2001, was very disappointing. If the decline continues at the same rate over the next 30 years, only Gwynedd will have half its population as Welsh speaking, and then only by 1 per cent. That’s what’s got to be turned around. Most alarming has been the reduction in the communities where over 70 and 80 per cent of the population speak Welsh. This is a number that people, including myself, believe is what is needed to make it a community language. When it gets down to 60 per cent, just using simple mathematics, two out of five people you’ll meet will not speak it, and the tendency is, ‘Let’s stick to English because everybody will understand me.’

More encouragingly, we have seen the number of three to four-year-olds able to speak Welsh increase from 18.8 per cent in 2001 to 23.6 per cent in 2011. This shows the continuation of the increase from 11.3 per cent in 1971. Can I just pay tribute, like everybody else has, to Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin and Ti a Fi, who have done a tremendous job in getting children at a very young age to speak Welsh? Sorry, Rhun, about this but only Anglesey had a lower proportion of three to four-year-old Welsh speakers than the proportion of the population as a whole from the 2011 census. [Inaudible.]—scenario if it continues going forward because we need to make a change. Even the good of what’s happening with three and four-year-olds is not good enough. We need to make sure that children learn Welsh in school. I’m going to talk more about that, in Welsh, later on. So, apologies. I won’t go into it now. We need to get people to do it now, because it’s incredibly difficult to learn Welsh as an adult. We also have lots of people moving into Wales who will not be Welsh speakers; we have people moving out. I ask the question now: should people who move to London, whose children attend London Welsh School, actually be counted against Welsh speakers? That’s a question we need to give some thought to.

Growth in the number of young people speaking Welsh in Wales will ensure that the more pessimistic scenario does not occur, as long as these numbers are maintained and increased. But we need children, again, to speak Welsh. We can talk about Welsh speakers, and I’ve a lot of experience of children between the ages of three and 18 over recent years, going to Welsh-medium schools, and it’s different being able to speak Welsh and speaking Welsh. There’s a huge difference in that. We need to increase the number of people speaking it.

The current Government is doing a lot: supporting mentrau iaith; language action plans; Welsh-language promotion schemes; extra financial support for the Eisteddfod; events with the Urdd camp at Llangrannog, although my daughter, amongst others, says they could still do with a lot more investment there; and the investment in delivering Welsh-medium schools. Despite the Welsh Government’s current commitment and support—and I don’t think anybody doubts the Welsh Government’s support for this—I would like to see five policies taking place. A guaranteed place in Flying Start provision through the medium of Welsh for all eligible children whose parents request it. Let’s start young. Once children get into an English-medium environment, they’re likely to stay there. The promotion of the benefits of Welsh-medium education to parents of three-year-olds. The plan for at least a third of children in Wales to attend a Welsh-medium school. Now, my fear is that we’re going to keep on going as we are, where we’re going to end up with a population in Wales where about a quarter of us speak it, but it will vary between about 20 and 40 per cent, and nowhere will there be enough Welsh speakers for it to be the language of the community, the language people can use daily. I live in Morriston where there are a large number of Welsh speakers and an opportunity to use it, but it’s in a small number of places where you can use it. Sorry, Rhun.

Thank you very much. Would the Member agree with me that we also need to use the excellent role models that we have in sports, for example, at the moment—we think of the Welsh team and players such as Ben Davies and Joe Allen—in order to ensure that young people look up to people who use the Welsh language?

Actually, Cyril Hartson’s great-uncle had difficulty speaking English, and quite often had to ask what the English word was when I was talking to him.

The provision of Welsh-medium youth facilities needs to improve and the protection of the Welsh language being a material consideration in planning applications.

Rydw i’n gwybod pa mor anodd ydy dysgu Cymraeg. Mae’n haws dysgu yn yr ysgol pan yn ifanc. Rydw i’n meddwl bod treigladau yn amhosib, ond, mae fy ngwraig a fy merch a oedd yn mynychu ysgolion cyfrwng Cymraeg, yn eu defnyddio nhw yn naturiol.

Over half the people who will take part in the 2051 census are alive now. All the 38-year-olds in the 2061 census would’ve started school.

Yn olaf, pwy ydy siaradwyr Cymraeg? Pobl fel fi sy’n siarad Cymraeg gyda theulu a ffrindiau yn y capel ac yn y dafarn, sydd ddim yn hyderus i siarad Cymraeg yn gyhoeddus? A ydw i’n cyfrif fel un o’r 1 miliwn?

It’s a pleasure to participate in a debate where such ideas are being aired. Congratulations to Suzy and to Mike for their contributions.

I, like Sian Gwenllian, have been fortunate geographically and in familial terms to have been given a Welsh upbringing, to such an extent that I wasn’t able to speak English until I was seven and I didn’t know what the concept of a second language was. I had to learn English to be educated.

I welcome and admire the Government’s courage in aiming for 1 million Welsh speakers and I’m with you 100 per cent. Of course, we’ve been here before: it was 1900 and there were 1 million Welsh speakers at that point too. So, we are reclaiming ground here and we are determined that we will do so, particularly on a day such as today. We’ve just had that election result in the United States and it’s quite easy to feel a little despondent, but it’s worth bearing in mind that we have something very valuable in Wales with the Welsh language, and it is something that we should take pride in and celebrate that we are, on a wide scale, still able to use the Welsh language. In the history of humanity, when a minority language comes up against a strong majority language in a neighbouring country, then that minority language tends to decline and eventually disappear. In the history of humanity, only three minority languages have been able to withstand such major pressures: Hebrew is one, Basque is the second and the third is the Welsh language. In the whole history of humanity on this globe, we are part of a nation that uses a language that has proven to be able to overturn history. So, everything is not bleak by any stretch of the imagination, but it has taken hard work to date in order to have those 562,000 Welsh speakers we have today.

We have regained ground, but there is still work to be done, as we’ve already heard. I won’t rehearse the issue of schools, but it is worth noting that we do have 386 Welsh-medium schools in the primary sector in Wales. Three hundred and eighty six—I should just repeat that figure. There is a crucial contribution that the education sector makes to our language, but we can do more in the workplace, for example, with more provision to encourage and to help people to learn Welsh naturally to the level where they can use it naturally, as Mike Hedges has already suggested—a natural level that would be appropriate for the kind of work that they do.

When my oldest son was out in Germany, he was expected to become fluent in German for the work that he was doing with his degree at the time. They provided people to teach the staff from abroad on a one-to-one basis. It happened naturally, there was no cost attached for the employer and it just happened. And Aled did become fluent in German within three months of that kind of provision and was able to provide services in German to Germans in Berlin. It’s possible to do that. Of course, with a background in Welsh-medium schools, learning German was much easier—another of the benefits of having Welsh-medium education. It’s important to make it easier for people to learn Welsh as adults too. We need greater provision and we need more of a boost to the Welsh for adults scheme and Welsh in the workplace.

I note the additional funds that have been provided as a result of the agreement between ourselves as Plaid Cymru and the Labour Party, but there remains work to be done, because courses for adults, generally speaking, through the medium of Wales are very rare. Only 0.2 per cent of all funding of £17 million for those courses is actually spent on Welsh-medium courses. But, on a day such as today, after a night like last night, we want people to be very much aware of the contribution of the Welsh language, to be positive about the Welsh language, and, yes, to teach people and to teach our children so that they do become fluent in Welsh.

As I said, we’ve been here before with the 1 million Welsh speakers and with quite some effort and commitment and passion and leadership from this Government, and hard work from everyone else, without anyone being less than confident in using their Welsh publicly, and insisting as Welsh speakers that we use Welsh language services—we don’t always because of a lack of confidence, and use the English language services—. It is up to us all. We are looking for leadership, yes, and it seems that we are getting that leadership, but there’s hard work still to be done to regain that ground and reach that figure of 1 million Welsh speakers.

This has been a very interesting debate and I’ve learned quite a lot from the speeches that have been made on all sides of this Chamber. I’m very pleased, on behalf of my party, to support the Plaid Cymru motion today.

I was very pleased to hear the note of optimism that Dai Lloyd struck a moment ago and the point he made about the connection between Welsh and the Basque language and Hebrew and the way the situation has been turned around in those two other cases. It gives us a great deal of hope for Wales as well. We’ve certainly come a long way from ‘Brad y Llyfrau Gleision’, when it was the policy of the Government of the day to try and wipe the language out. Today, fortunately, we have a completely different attitude.

I’m surprised, actually, that the Government has sought to amend this motion in the way that it has because there is a consensus around the house that we should support the aims of the Welsh Government. I think it is a noble endeavour that they’ve engaged in to have this aspiration for 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050, and I think we should acknowledge that the Welsh Government has made a huge contribution towards turning the language situation around. I think, in the form of the current Minister, as I’ve said before, there is nobody better suited to drive this measure through. So, I don’t think the Government needs to be defensive in any way and I don’t see point 2 in this motion as being critical of the Government. I think Plaid Cymru probably deliberately decided not to introduce a note of confrontation into this debate in order to encourage the consensus that we all need to show towards the outside world. If it hadn’t been for the Government wanting to delete that pure statement of fact in point 2, then we could all engage in this debate on a note of complete agreement. So, it’s regrettable therefore that this debating point type of approach has been adopted. But I think we’re all agreed on what we want to achieve and so there’s no disagreement there.

I think what Llyr Gruffydd said in his opening speech today was right. We all acknowledge the enormity of the task to achieve 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050. It may be more of an aspiration than a reality, in a sense, but I think if we can make significant strides towards achieving that, then that in itself would be well worth doing. It does require the change of attitude that he described, about promoting the use of Welsh. I think we all have, as individuals, to do our bit in that respect. I’m struggling my way through the learning books at the minute because I didn’t have the great advantage of Dai Lloyd and others of growing up in a Welsh-speaking household—neither of my parents spoke Welsh. We lived in Monmouthshire, which was monoglot English at that time, until I was 11 years old, then moved to Carmarthenshire. I was 11 before I had any instruction in Welsh at all. Two years later, I had to choose between Welsh and German and I opted for German. So, in the course of my school career, I learnt French and German and Russian, and I did German and Russian at university as well, but unfortunately I didn’t take the opportunity to use Welsh when I had it. But I’m pleased to say—

You’ll need the Russian again. [Laughter.]

Maybe Mr Trump will want to make me the ambassador to Moscow as he wants to make Mr Farage the ambassador to Brussels. But one of the reasons why I’m relishing being in this place is the opportunity to improve my Welsh skills. But that’s enough reminiscence from me.

I agree with everything that’s been said in this debate so far. It’s certainly true that Welsh language education is the main source of new Welsh speakers, as the Welsh Government’s Welsh language strategy says. It is vitally important that Welsh should be acquired as early as possible in life and I’ve read this great tome produced by the Welsh language commission on the position of the Welsh language between 2012 and 2015 and I think a couple of short paragraphs of it are worth putting on record for the facts that it elicits.

‘More than 80 per cent of 3-4 year old children living in households where two adults are able to speak Welsh are also able to speak Welsh themselves, but only 5 per cent of 3-4 year olds in Wales live in such households.’

So, that’s a fact that is the background to all our discussions today.

‘80 per cent of those who learnt to speak Welsh at home consider themselves to be fluent Welsh speakers. But it is in school that children and young people tend to learn to speak Welsh today and fluency rates amongst them are not as high as they are amongst those who learnt Welsh at home. Fluent Welsh speakers use Welsh far more than those who are not fluent and therefore the shift from the home to school as the main source of Welsh speakers becomes very significant.’

Then, if we look at the figures for when children have learnt to speak Welsh, that is also very interesting and instructive as well.

‘Half of those who learnt Welsh mainly at nursery school say that they are fluent Welsh speakers. Of those who learnt Welsh mainly at primary school, around a quarter could speak Welsh fluently and fewer than one in five who learnt Welsh mainly at secondary school consider themselves to be fluent.’

So, that proves that learning Welsh from the outset within the education system for children who have not learnt the language at home is crucial when considering that school is the main source of new Welsh speakers today. So, it’s vitally important therefore that we should introduce Welsh into children’s minds as early as possible.

But I think it’s right for us to acknowledge—

Can I just say that your reminiscing has meant that you’re now out of time, so can you bring your contribution to a conclusion?

Yes. I just wanted to acknowledge the considerable increase in funding that the Government has brought forward, up from £16 million in 2013-14 to nearly £30 million next year. I believe that we should, as an Assembly, commend the Government for that and I think that we should all, therefore, be reasonably optimistic about the future.

I couldn’t speak a word of Welsh until I was 32 years of age, and I started to learn Welsh when I was a teacher, because, in my school, there weren’t enough Welsh teachers available to teach children for the Estyn inspection. I went to the university in Lampeter and followed a Wlpan course over two months, and taught Welsh within a week of finishing the course. As a language teacher, especially of Welsh, I have experience of the challenges facing people who’d like to learn Welsh, but there aren’t enough teachers who speak Welsh available to make this a reality. There is a need for better planning for the teaching workforce to ensure that there a sufficient number of teachers to teach through the medium of Welsh. There is a need for a scheme to encourage Welsh speakers to join the education workforce, and a scheme to attract teachers who speak Welsh who work in other countries to return to Wales.

In some schools, there isn’t enough time, either, in the curriculum. Sometimes, when I was a teacher, only half an hour a week was available for teachers to teach the children. How can we expect children to learn any language without the appropriate time?

Dai mentioned earlier the need to offer more opportunities for adult education. Too often, there aren’t enough courses, or courses are too costly, and this prevents people from taking part.

Rydym yn aml yn clywed am draul yr iaith Gymraeg, ac mae’r rhan fwyaf o bobl yn gwerthfawrogi’r gwerth diwylliannol, ond hoffwn siarad am y manteision economaidd, oherwydd mae’r iaith Gymraeg yn gwneud arian i Gymru. Mae’n ailgylchu arian yn y wlad ac mae’n allweddol i ddatblygiad economaidd a chryfhau’r economi. Mae’n bwysig dweud bod ‘ein hiaith’ yn bwynt gwerthu unigryw. Mae’n rhoi mantais gystadleuol i ni dros fannau eraill yn y DU ac mae’n atyniad i fuddsoddwyr tramor. Yn 2014, dyna a welodd grŵp gorchwyl Llywodraeth Cymru a dyna yw fy mhrofiad personol o fynd â buddsoddwyr o gwmpas Cymru hefyd.

Rwyf eisiau dweud bod yna rai pobl yng Nghymru sy’n dioddef bron o sgitsoffrenia gwrthnysig yn yr ystyr eu bod yn gweld eu hunain fel Cymry, ac eto maent i’w gweld yn casáu pethau Cymreig: os edrychwn ar bobl sydd am fychanu’r Eisteddfod, er enghraifft, gyda newyddiadurwr y llynedd yn creu rhwygiadau. Mae gan Undeb Rygbi Cymru wersi enfawr i’w dysgu gan Gymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru ynglŷn â sut i fod yn falch o’n hiaith a’n diwylliant unigryw, a ‘diolch o galon’ i’r bechgyn allan yn Ffrainc yn yr haf. Ymhellach i ffwrdd, mae gennym BBC Radio 5 Live yn gofyn i bobl roi sylwadau ynglŷn ag a oeddent yn meddwl bod hil-laddiad diwylliannol yn dderbyniol, o ran a ddylai’r iaith Gymraeg fodoli ai peidio. Os ydym yn gyfartal fel cenhedloedd yn y DU, pam nad yw’r Gymraeg yn cael ei haddysgu ar draws pob gwlad? Rwy’n credu bod yna berygl gwirioneddol yn awr y bydd diwylliannau lleiafrifol yn cael eu llethu gan genedlaetholdeb gul ymosodol un maint i bawb y DU. Yr hyn sy’n fy nghythruddo yw’r ffordd y mae rhai mathau o wleidyddion yn defnyddio gwahaniaethau fel ethnigrwydd ac iaith i neilltuo lleiafrifoedd.

Rwy’n falch o weld rhai pennau Llafur yn nodio i gytuno yn y Siambr, ac rwy’n diolch i chi. Byddwn yn gofyn iddynt gael gair difrifol, felly, gyda’u Gweinidog cyllid, a gefnogodd ymgyrch Chwarae Teg dros ysgolion cyfrwng Saesneg yn fy ward cyngor yn y Tyllgoed yn 2010, 2011 a 2012. Holl bwyslais yr ymgyrch oedd bod ysgolion cyfrwng Cymraeg yn cael popeth, ac mae hynny’n gywilyddus. Rwy’n gofyn i chi wneud yn siŵr nad oes dim byd felly’n digwydd eto, am ei fod yn anghywir.

Yr hyn rwy’n falch iawn ohono yn awr, yng Nghaerdydd a Chymru, yw bod llawer o bethau wedi newid. Roedd llawer yn y genhedlaeth goll—dyna fy nghenhedlaeth i—nad oeddent yn cael eu caniatáu i ddysgu Cymraeg, ac rydym yn gwneud yn siŵr fod ein plant yn mynd i ysgolion cyfrwng Cymraeg. Yn anffodus, er gwaethaf y geiriau cynnes a chonsensws cysurus yma, pan fo Llafur mewn llywodraeth leol yn gwadu lleoedd cyfrwng Cymraeg i rieni—rhieni fel Kyle Jones—[Torri ar draws.] Peidiwch â thytian os gwelwch yn dda; gwrandewch. Rhieni fel Kyle Jones yn Nhrelái, nad oedd yn gallu anfon ei blant i gael addysg cyfrwng Cymraeg eleni. Nid oedd yn cael dewis—ni châi ddewis, ym mhrifddinas Cymru. Rwy’n cofio, yn 2013, pan ddaeth Llafur i arwain y cyngor a chanslo adeiladu’r ysgol Gymraeg yn Grangetown, ac rwy’n cofio’r hawl i gyfieithu ar y pryd yn cael ei thynnu’n ôl gan y cyngor ar draws y ffordd, hyd nes i mi wrthod siarad Saesneg yn y siambr.

Allan yno, yn yr unfed ganrif ar hugain, nid oes unrhyw beth yn agos—dim yn agos—cymaint o ragfarn yn erbyn yr iaith Gymraeg â’r hyn a arferai fod. [Torri ar draws.]

The Member is bringing his contribution to an end and will be heard in silence.

In twenty-first century Wales, the majority welcome bilingualism. And I’ll tell you what, when we take over that council next year, we’ll make sure everybody has a choice. The twentieth century was when the language was used to divide people; the twenty-first century will be the century when the Welsh language unites people, and, in a world like today’s, that is very, very important. Diolch yn fawr.

I call on the Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language, Alun Davies.

Thank you very much, Llywydd, and thank you for the opportunity to respond to this discussion. I was listening to the contribution from every part of the Chamber and I had written on my notes here to thank Plaid Cymru for the way Llyr had opened the debate, and I had also written to thank you for the sense of consensus that is in each part of the Chamber. [Laughter.] So, at least I can be accused of being a little bit of an optimist at times. Can I just say this? Because I do think, when we’re discussing the language and our culture it’s important that we look for consensus, and don’t look for those things that divide us, and I know that the Plaid Cymru spokesperson agrees with that. I also acknowledge the tone in the way that Llyr had opened this discussion, and also the challenge. He started his contribution with a challenge for myself and the Government, and he finished his contribution with the same challenge: are you serious? That was the question he asked. And can I just say this? I am serious and we as a Government are serious about this, and we’re going to show that, not just by words in closing a discussion here in the Assembly, but also in how we’re going to act during the years and months to come.

We’ve set a target of 1 million speakers, and, when we’re talking about speakers, we’re talking about people who can use the Welsh language, not just speak the Welsh language when there is a need now and again. And, Mike, you are one of that 1 million, and I welcomed each one of the comments you made during your contribution and also the positive contributions about how we move this agenda forward. I think that is important and it’s something that we are going to do. So, we do recognise the challenge that’s facing us, we acknowledge the challenge, and we also know where we are today. We’re not going to hide from the truth, or avoid facing the reality of where we are. We’re not going to do that. But we aren’t going to repeat the same sort of discussions that we’ve had. We’re going to take action. And that is why we’re taking time to discuss with people across Wales at the moment, and we will be, when we come to publish the strategy in the spring, publishing a strategy that will be clear, that will have targets, clear targets, for the activities that we’re going to undertake in the next few years, and clear targets about how we’re going to reach the target of 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050.

We recognise that there is a challenge, as Suzy Davies said, and others have said, from the early years to the post-16 sector. We have to take intentional steps to increase the provision if we’re going to see this vision realised. Each one of the speakers this afternoon has spoken about the importance of Welsh-medium education, and we recognise that there is a need to strengthen the strategic planning system for every stage of education and training, which is vital if we’re going to succeed. We’re looking forward to receiving the WESPs from local authorities next month. Sian Gwenllian has emphasised the importance of this, and we recognise that and we agree with you that there is a need for these plans to be serious. They need to be robust and they need to be ambitious. If they’re not ambitious and if they’re not helping us to reach the target, we won’t accept them. We’re clear on that. We’re talking with local authorities to set targets that will enable us to reach our aims.

We also want to see an increase in Welsh-medium education and ensure that we have a sufficient workforce to enable us to do that. I welcomed the words of Suzy Davies when she was talking about the importance of initial training through the medium of Welsh, and also more teachers who can take advantage of the sabbatical scheme to develop Welsh language skills. I recognise that that is happening, and I recognise that we need to increase that, and we’re going to do that. We also want to see more learners in FE and HE being able to continue their education in the Welsh language, or in both languages, and we will be developing opportunities to do that. Each Member is aware that the Cabinet Secretary Kirsty Williams has established a working group to review the activities of the Coleg Cymraeg and to consider that the Coleg Cymraeg’s role should be expanded to the post-16 sector. The working group has been established and it will be reporting back to the Cabinet Secretary next summer. We will then consider how we’re going to move that forward. I don’t want to pre-empt the findings of the group, but I’m certain that we have to take that work seriously and we have to move very quickly once we receive their report.

Can I just say this? We recognise that it’s disappointing that we haven’t reached all our targets by now, but we also have a clear focus that we are moving to set targets that can be part of a wider strategy, and that will ensure that we reach the target of 1 million speakers by 2050. We are going to do that during the next few months, and there will be clear targets published next spring.

We accept the second amendment about the importance of the way in which Welsh is taught and used in the workplace. I acknowledge what Dai Lloyd has said about the importance of this, and we will be doing everything we can to ensure that bodies that provide services, and businesses, can do so in the Welsh language as well.

So, we do think that there is consensus and agreement around the Chamber—not a cozy consensus, but a clear consensus, and a consensus that is based on vision; a vision relating to the place of our language and our culture in the future in our country. I agree with Dai Lloyd when he was talking about reviving the Welsh language and ensuring that there is a place for the Welsh language in all our communities, wherever we work and live in Wales. We will be leading on this consensus. We will be ensuring that this consensus is a strong consensus, and one that has strong roots, and we will ensure that this consensus leads a robust vision and a clear vision for the Welsh language and the future of the Welsh language.

Llyr Gruffydd to reply to the debate.

May I first of all thank everyone for their contributions? We as a party will also be supporting the second amendment. We won’t be supporting the first amendment—that’s the end of the consensus there immediately—for the very same reason that Suzy Davies outlined. We don’t disagree with what’s contained within the amendment, but it would delete the second point of the motion, and I don’t think that that’s necessary.

We were reminded that we’re talking about creating some 15,000 new Welsh speakers every year. That’s 1,000 rugby teams per year, with a language policy that is better than the Welsh Rugby Union’s, hopefully. But it will take vision and it will take clear targets, programmes and strategies—of course it will—and the Minister himself has acknowledged that the Welsh in education strategic plans, which are timely, of course, because the consultation is ongoing—. It’s encouraging to hear a clear message in this place this afternoon that the Government will not accept strategies that don’t make a sufficient contribution to this target of achieving a million speakers by 2050.

May I thank Mike Hedges, and may I congratulate both him and Neil McEvoy for making contributions through the medium of Welsh? But I do fear that Mike, perhaps, has let the cat out of the bag by asking whether we’re talking about a million Welsh speakers across the globe, or whether we are talking about a million Welsh speakers in Wales specifically. Well, if we reach a million Welsh speakers across the globe, that will be a positive step forward, without doubt. We will have gone even further with time, but let’s take one step at a time. I think the point Neil McEvoy made on workforce planning was entirely crucial, and also the economic contribution that the Welsh language makes. I know of a company developing software that has gained contracts across the globe for the very reason that they have developed software that can work bilingually, because it’s used in Wales. That, therefore, is portable in other parts of the world where developing software that operated only in one language is not sufficient, which would have meant that they wouldn’t have actually gained some of those contacts. So, there are examples out there and we need to promote those, because the economic argument is important and one which is central to this debate too.

I’m pleased to hear that the Minister states that he is serious and that the Government is serious—as serious as we are—in seeing this target attained. They will be judged through their actions, of course, and we as an opposition party, along with other parties in this place, will keep a close eye on the Government’s approach and how this area develops over ensuing months and years. But as I said at the outset, we will expect—and the scale of the challenge will require this—the Government to take determined and courageous action. If you do that, I’m sure there will be more than a million Welsh people with you on this journey.

The proposal is to agree the motion without amendment. Does any Member object? [Objection.] I will defer voting under this item until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.