Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:43 pm on 18 June 2019.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:43, 18 June 2019

(Translated)

Well, may I say once again, Llywydd, in my view, it is very important to receive services through the medium of Welsh, particularly in the health sector, and that is why we recently published new standards at the end of May, which extend to primary healthcare. Of course, it’s a long-term project to grow people within the workforce who are ready and have the skills to deliver those services through the medium of Welsh. But, as a Government, we’ve been working with people in the field, with the royal colleges, with the health boards, to persuade people who are ready and able to deliver services through the medium of Welsh to do so in the first place, and also to attract more people into the field.

Yesterday, I visited the university at Aberystwyth and I met with people there who have just succeeded in securing again the right to train in the field of nursing, and developing people who are able to deliver services through the medium of Welsh is a central part of their work.

So, we are making progress, but there's more to be done, of course. But the fundamental point is that people have the right to use the Welsh language and to receive public services through the medium of Welsh, and it's something that we support, naturally, as a Government.