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.