Diolch, Llywydd. I formally move the amendments tabled in my name and supported by Mark Reckless, which are moved with the support also of the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party. This group of amendments deals with the provision of Welsh teaching. The amendments I am moving today seek to reflect the fact that Wales has many different parts and they do not all have the same level of Welsh speaking. Rather than try to create one policy for the whole of Wales, which would be a waste of precious resources, we feel that Welsh language provision should be appropriate to the needs of the local population. We think, on the whole, that it would be better to focus resources on saving and keeping open rural schools in Welsh-speaking west Wales, rather than letting those schools close, which is what has been happening and what continues to happen. But we can't do anything to keep those schools open if we waste money on an all-Wales policy designed to hit some arbitrary target of 1 million Welsh speakers, because ultimately what does having 1 million Welsh speakers actually mean? What does it actually mean if you teach 1 million people to say 'bore da' and 'noswaith dda'? Is that actually a meaningful achievement and is it a useful employment of limited resources? Is it better to get all those people to be able to smile and say 'bore da' and not much else, or is it better to actually target local communities in Welsh-speaking Wales, keep schools open, keep community centres open and keep Welsh going as a living language, because that is what we're in danger of losing? 

Now, turning to our specific amendments today, the Welsh Government's amendments to their own Bill, laid at Stage 2, allow for some Welsh-medium schools to be allowed not to teach any English until age eight. So, the emphasis here is on schools being allowed to choose what is the best approach for their pupils. Our amendment 35 today allows a similar right for English-medium schools to be allowed not to teach any Welsh until age eight, which, again, will allow the schools to decide the best approach. To some extent, this may be regarded as a probing amendment. If the Welsh Government doesn't think, for whatever reason, that this is the right approach, then they may need to revisit their enthusiasm for their own amendments allowing Welsh-medium schools to opt out of teaching pupils English.

Our amendment 37 seeks to insert a new Schedule into the Bill that devolves to local authorities the power to decide if and to what degree Welsh should be compulsory in English-medium schools between years 4 and 11—in other words, between the ages of eight and 16. Local councils would be able to come to their own decisions on this matter after appropriate consultations with their own local people and with regard to the proportion of Welsh speakers in their own area. 

Amendments 38 and 39 are needed if amendments 35 to 37 are agreed. If amendments 35 and 37 are not agreed, then in that event I wouldn't push for a vote for the other two amendments. 

To sum up, what we do need is a localised approach, rather than a one-size-fits-all policy, and what we also need is an element of choice, rather than compulsion, over how we decide to teach the Welsh language in different parts of Wales. To that end, I commend to the Siambr today these amendments. Diolch yn fawr iawn.