Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:33 pm on 28 January 2020.
Well, may I start by making it clear that there have been no cuts in the Welsh language budget? There will be no cut in the Welsh language budget. I don't know how many times I can state that. In addition to that, the £6.5 million that Plaid Cymru agreed to in the previous budget—we have maintained that funding, so that funding has gone towards the budget as well. In addition to that, I think it's important that we recognise that the budget I'm responsible for is only part of the Welsh language budget. There are portfolios across Government the touch on the Welsh language. If you just think about the fact that last year we spent £30 million in capital funding for building Welsh-medium schools, £15 million on building locations where young children could learn the Welsh language, additional millions went to Llangrannog and Glan-llyn—nobody ever mentions that additional funding that has gone towards the Welsh language. So, I do think that it is important to restate that.
I wanted to look at Welsh for adults in detail. They receive £13 million, and they teach around 12,000 people. I just want to have a look at that in greater detail, because it does take a great deal of the budget. I want to ensure that they spend the money in the right way, and I'm sure that you'd want me to do that. And it's worth, perhaps, just looking at the fact that it's not just them who provide for teaching adults in Welsh. Say Something in Welsh say that they teach 50,000 people. Duolingo says that they have a million people on their books, and they don't receive a penny from the Government. So, I do think it's important that we see this in the wider context. But, of course, the work that Welsh for adults does in the centre is very, very important.
But I haven't made any decision yet with regard to what we're going to do about that, because I do want to have a closer look at what we can do and ensure that it dovetails with our priorities for Cymraeg 2050. But I can be entirely clear with you that funding won't be lost from the portfolio. If funding is moved around, it will be allocated somewhere else within the Welsh language portfolio.
There's no u-turn being made on the Eisteddfod. The situation remains the same as it was in the past, so I don't know where that has come from.
In terms of the coleg Cymraeg, there are apprenticeships, as I said—around 12 per cent of people do an element of their work in the apprenticeships through the medium of Welsh, and it's important that we increase the opportunities for people to do that so that they study more of their course through the medium of Welsh in future.