2. Will the Minister provide an update on the delivery of the 2018-2019 Action Plan Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers? OAQ53484

The 2018-19 action plan, Cymraeg 2050, is based on the 2017-21 work programme. We will be reporting on progress against the objectives in the autumn, having gathered and analysed the data, and the objectives focus on creating demand, increasing numbers and increasing use of the language.

Thank you. I look forward to that update. According to your predecessor, Alun Davies, one of the purposes of the Welsh language Bill was, and I quote, to create an institution of the best possible quality and of international level that would bring together the necessary critical mass of talent and expertise to lead language planning to a new, broader and more sophisticated level.

Although the Bill has now been withdrawn, do you agree that we continue to need an arm’s-length body in addition to the commissioner in order to carry out that language-planning work that Alun Davies and myself believe is necessary for the success of your million Welsh speakers strategy?

Well, I accept that we do need to do much more in the field of language planning. I have asked officials to bring forward ideas to me about where would be most appropriate to set that. I am eager to discuss with experts in the field to see where the best place for that function is, as some believe that is should be at an arm’s length from Government, but others say, 'Actually it needs to be very close to Government, because that’s where the levers are to make changes.' So, I’m eager to see what the options are first of all before making a decision on where the institution or this new expertise should lie within the system, whether it’s within the system itself or at arm’s length.

One aim of the strategy is to increase the provision of post-16 Welsh learning to help people use more of the Welsh language in the workplace. I think I’m pleased to see ideas such as a telephone helpline to help provide free translation services to small businesses and charities, for example, but that is a very small step towards the target of a million Welsh speakers in 2050. What do you tell these small businesses who aren’t aware of your Welsh for Business officials or haven’t heard from them how they can take best advantage of small resources such as that helpline, never mind taking that leap to take seriously the fact that they have a role in creating or increasing the number of Welsh speakers and reaching that million Welsh speaker target?

Thank you very much. I think that a great deal of work is being done in this field, and the majority of that work is being done by the Welsh Government. One of the things we have done, of course, is to find about 12 people who go around Wales providing advice to people in the field of business about how they can expand their use of the Welsh language within the workplace. Of course, we also have provision for people to learn Welsh in the workplace, and I’m very eager to ensure that people are aware of these services. That’s the challenge now. We are already doing a great deal to ensure that people know about the telephone helpline. I think we need to do more marketing in this field to ensure—and that is already happening, but, of course, we need to try to do more to raise the profile, so that people are ware that this service exists.