5. Statement by the Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Welsh Language: Promoting the use of Welsh in families (transmission in families policy)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:19 pm on 26 January 2021.

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Photo of Siân Gwenllian Siân Gwenllian Plaid Cymru 4:19, 26 January 2021

(Translated)

Thank you for the statement and the report, and I look forward to reading it in detail. The focus of the policy, as you said, is to influence homes where people are already able to speak Welsh in order to help them to use the language with their children. Now, at the end of the day, it's pride in the Welsh language and confidence in its value that will create this great shift that is required, and I'd like to know what will be in your manifesto in terms of promoting that to all families in Wales in an ambitious way over the next years.

You said that there isn't a silver bullet that's going to make more people transfer the Welsh language, and that this policy introduces a series of action points. So, can you outline what those actions are, broadly speaking, and how did you decide upon them? What's the evidence underpinning these actions that you have selected, and how are you going to monitor the success of these to see whether they are reaching their objectives or not? And as you've mentioned, there is some work that has been done over the years in helping families to make more use of the Welsh language with their children. The aim of the Twf project, which was in place between 2001 and 2016, was to raise awareness among families of the benefits of raising children bilingually, and having a positive impact on their use of the Welsh language. I clearly remember the Twf scheme when it was operational in parts of my constituency, and I have to say that I was very disappointed when it came to an end because it did succeed. I witnessed that myself in terms of the families that I saw benefit from being encouraged through this scheme. Cymraeg i Blant was put in place as a successor to Twf in 2016, but without sufficient investment. Would you agree with me on that, that there wasn't sufficient investment for Cymraeg i Blant? I think the aim is to increase the number of children in receipt of Welsh-medium education—so the emphasis has shifted slightly—and also to support parents, carers, prospective parents, prospective carers and other members of the family to introduce the Welsh language at home and to transmit the language to their children, but as part of the effort to get more children into Welsh-medium education. Do you believe that there is now an argument for reintroducing the Twf scheme, given that it is still considered to be a successful programme, which is still used as an example of good practice in this area?

And finally from me, there have been major problems that have emerged as a result of the pandemic, in terms of parents who aren't confident in their Welsh language skills, or don't speak Welsh at all, trying to support children in Welsh-medium education. And I can imagine that it's a huge challenge to try and do that. Estyn has noted it as a major risk. Will this be given a prominent role in the Government's education recovery programme? What discussions are you having with the finance Minister and the education Minister to secure additional funding to support the great rebuilding work that is required—and will be required—over the next months, way beyond the period where the virus is in decline?