Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:40 pm on 14 November 2017.
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 that forward within Government more generally.
May I thank Siân Gwenllian for her response? I do think that it's important that we do move forward with this aspiration to do as much as we can in as many different ways as possible. It's not all about standards. It's not all an emphasis on the commissioner. We must look at this in a far more holistic way.
What I don't want to do is to give this idea that, if we are going to change something, then whatever replaces it will be weaker. That simply won't be the case. I can be entirely clear on that. I am open minded, but I want everyone to be open minded on this issue, too. I do want to give that guarantee that this will not lead to any diminution.
I have spoken to the Welsh language commissioner this morning, and have underlined the importance of an evidence base for everything that we do, and also looking at the experience of other nations where minority languages are spoken. I think what Adam Price said is important, but I do want to ensure that we look beyond the systems currently available. Let's return time and again to look at the evidence and to look at what works best. I do think we need to simplify the situation and to make it less administrative. We must make it easier for people who have complaints.
Suzy, may I make it clear that I don't want to close down any options? If the idea is that we should retain the commissioner, well, that is an option. If we abolish, that’s another option. If I agree with the amendment, then I would be closing down one of those options, and I don’t want to do that.
Now, I do think that we must look in detail at the efficiency of the work that everyone within the sector does—how effective is the work that’s being done? I think we must ensure that this work—. I think that that's a fair point, that we engage better with non-Welsh speakers and Welsh learners. There is certainly scope to do that, and I do think that this is where we will make gains towards this aim of a million Welsh speakers.
Adam Price, you’ve said that there is a consensus of opinion. Well, I’m not aware of that consensus. I haven’t seen the responses, as of yet. Clearly, you haven’t seen the responses either, so I don’t think it’s fair to say that there is a consensus as of yet. We will see whether that consensus is in place and then, obviously, we will take that into account. But I do think that we should also consider that the report—