5. Will the Minister make a statement on levels of expenditure on promoting the Welsh language in the draft budget? OAQ54886

Thank you very much. The 2020-21 draft budget includes over £37 million for the Welsh language. Of this, around £13 million is directly related to promotion activities. Our grant partners play an important role in providing opportunities for people to use the language. We’re pleased to continue to fund 27 partners and 52 papurau bro.

Thank you for that list. The finance Minister, during the debate on the draft budget yesterday, stated that the budget for the Welsh language wasn't going to be cut. So, just for the sake of clarity, can you confirm for us that there will be an inflationary increase in that budget? Otherwise, it is a real-terms cut, so I just wanted confirmation that there is going to be an increase in line with inflation for your budget for the Welsh language.

I also understand that this morning you suggested in the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee that you may be required to cut the Welsh for Adults budget in order to direct some of that funding to mitigating the impacts of Brexit. Can you confirm whether that is something that you are truly considering, and perhaps explain why you target Welsh for Adults particularly? Which other elements of your budget will be cut for that reason?

I think it’s important that people understand that Welsh is mainstreamed across Government. The fact is that we haven’t seen cuts in the funding for the Welsh language. What has happened is that some of the expenditure that was in the budget for the education lines has moved to another line, and that is why, perhaps, there was some confusion as to whether cuts had been introduced.

We have found an additional £50,000 to pay for the staffing costs of the Welsh Language Commissioner, and we have also provided capital funding of £0.38 million to the commissioner so that he can have a new computer system. What we’re doing—in terms of looking at the budget in general, one of the things I did was to ask those who assist me, in terms of ensuring that we’re on the right track, to look at the direction and whether we’re doing the right things in achieving that aim of a million speakers. What was clear was that we were spending a lot more than half of the budget that I have on Welsh for Adults. So, if we’re doing that, we have to ensure that the money is spent correctly and ensure that we have value for money. So, for me, what’s important is that we are consistently looking at whether we’re spending in the right places.

I have to say completely clearly that I’m very pleased with the work that the National Centre for Learning Welsh is doing. About 12,000 people are learning through the medium of Welsh. We are giving about £13 million to the centre, so it is quite a large proportion of my budget. That’s why I just want to scrutinise in more detail how that is being spent.

Well, perhaps I could try to respond to that question. Just to avoid a future of buck-passing on this issue, can you be clear about the changes to the budget of the Welsh Language Commissioner that can be attributed directly to his new promotional responsibilities? What funding will be retained by the Welsh Government to cover its promotional responsibilities? Because I would want to keep a close eye on this.

Could you also tell us whether there will be an increase in local authority budgets and health budgets? Will that include funding for improving their compliance with standards, including any responsibilities for promoting the Welsh language, or will they be able to access funds from the Welsh language main expenditure group in order to do that?

Well, we have ensured that we are co-operating better with the language commissioner. We have a memorandum of understanding so that we know who’s doing what, so that we’re not duplicating the work that we’re doing as a Government and the work that he is doing as commissioner. I do think that savings can be made, therefore, in that area, because we’re not duplicating work.

In terms of what’s happening in the field of health, one of the things that we have been doing is helping people to train and to learn through the medium of Welsh. That budget currently is coming from us for health. We do hope that, ultimately, the department itself will take responsibility for training people through the medium of Welsh. The same is true in relation to training teachers to teach young people. So, currently, that does come under the national centre and we’re funding that, but I hope that in the long term that will be incorporated into the departments themselves.