Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:52 pm on 24 March 2021.
Well, I think that the fact that we did launch Creative Wales and that we've moved forward with that project, and the fact that we have understood that this industry is something that does contribute in a profound way to our economy—. If you look at the increase in the number of people who work in the arts, there's been an increase of about 50 per cent over the last decade. There has been an incredible increase, and there's scope for us to expand further. One of the things that we've done is to focus on trying to ensure that training is provided in the right places, and I think that we can go further on that. I do understand what you say in terms of the risk that we're working in silos, and, certainly, I hope that, if we all come back next time, this is something where we'll see more work across the Government.
In terms of the Welsh language, I've taken a paper to Cabinet recently to emphasise the fact that we have to go much further than we've gone so far and that we have to ensure that there is a responsibility on every Government department to mainstream the Welsh language. Of course, I hope that, when we do return, there will be a new action programme and that every department in the Welsh Government will be expected to contribute in some way in order to show what they are doing in terms of moving things forward as regards the Welsh language.