4. Will the Minister provide an update on progress towards achieving the objectives set out in Cymraeg 2050? OQ56311

Thank you very much, Vikki. Since launching 'Cymraeg 2050', the narrative around the language has changed considerably. We must build on this new momentum in order to ensure more access to Welsh-medium education, and we need to open more early years settings in addition to the 40 planned for opening. We also need to continue to provide exciting opportunities for people to hear and to use the language.

Diolch, Minister. Recent figures have shown that Rhondda Cynon Taf has the most pupils being taught through the medium of Welsh of all council areas in the Central South Consortium area, with just under 19 per cent of learners. Huge strides are being been made to improve the Welsh-medium offer in Cynon Valley still further through the Welsh Government's twenty-first century schools programme, with Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun being awarded £12.1 million for an expansion, which will allow it to accommodate an additional 187 pupils, and Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Aberdar being the recipient of £4.5 million, which will enable it to offer an additional 48 places. Minister, how are you working with colleagues in the Welsh Government and our partners in local government to improve the provision and the take-up of Welsh-medium education?

Thank you very much, Vikki. First of all, I want to pay tribute to the excellent work that they do in the council in Rhondda. It's incredible, the way that people have taken the opportunity to learn the language, and it's good to see that 19 per cent are already receiving their education through the medium of Welsh. But, of course, over the next few years, we need to see an increase in those numbers too, and that is why we as a Government have provided enhanced capital funding to ensure that the schools are available to assist with those projects. There will be an expectation that RCT, over the next 10 years, will increase those numbers to around 27 per cent of the population. Of course, in order to do that, we must ensure that there is a pipeline of those younger children coming through, and that's why we're always focused initially on increasing the numbers attending nursery provision, so that then they follow that route to Welsh-medium education. I very much hope that we will see that increase. It is incredible to see that difference, and I'm very pleased that we as a Welsh Government have been able to provide that additional funding, and also increase capacity at Dolau school. There are some ideas too in terms of changing the category of Penderyn school so it becomes a Welsh-medium school too. So, I hope that this will all lead to a huge celebration in this area when the Eisteddfod comes in 2024.

I'm sure the former head of Penderyn school will be very pleased to hear that news. Minister, what consideration have you given to establishing a digital fund for the Welsh language to support more use of everyday Welsh in the digital sphere? As you know, I'm eager to see everyday Welsh being normalised in day-to-day communication. It's a language for everyone, not just for some communities or some roles within the public sector, and, of course, the digital world is an increasingly important part of our daily lives. The Welsh Conservatives will include something of this kind in our manifesto to encourage, support and facilitate the use of Welsh online, and I hope you would agree with that idea.

We not only agree, Suzy, but we have a programme for Welsh and technology that is already in place. I provided an update on this just before Christmas to show just how far we've gone with that technology plan. It's become quite clear during the pandemic that we need to understand that our society has moved to a great extent online, and we must acknowledge that we need to consider the Welsh language in those discussions as to how we communicate online. That's why we've been pushing Microsoft, for example, to see if they can do more to ensure that we can use the Welsh language on Teams. They have now said that they are eager to see those developments, and we hope that will be delivered in the autumn. They've taken a while, but we do hope that we will now see a difference in that area.