The next item today is a debate on the Welsh Language Commissioner's annual report for 2020-21, and the commissioner's second five-year report. I call on the Minister for Education and Welsh Language to move the motion. Jeremy Miles.

Motion NDM7835 Lesley Griffiths

To propose that the Senedd:

1. Notes the Welsh Language Commissioner’s Annual Report (2020-21)

2. Notes the Welsh Language Commissioner's 5 year Report (2016-20).

Motion moved.

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. The Welsh language belongs to each and every one of us here in the Senedd, in Government and, more importantly, everywhere in Wales. That's what I have emphasised since my appointment as Minister for our language, and that's what I'm emphasising today. It doesn't matter how much Welsh we speak and whatever our connection with the language has been, we all have a contribution to make. The Welsh language is my first language. I'm grateful to my parents for gifting me with that language, and being bilingual gives us two windows to view the world through. So, before going on to the core of this debate, I just want to set out my vision briefly for our language, and how I see my work as Minister for Welsh language. 

I want more people to have what I had. I want more people to learn our language. I want to live as much of my life as possible through the medium of Welsh. You might think that there's nothing new in that, but, in the Welsh-speaking policy village, are we focused enough on language use? Do we avoid that because it's a little difficult, perhaps? I want more people to use our language, not just be able to speak it. So, language use is the key for me, and it's through the prism of language use that I see my work as Minister—use not just provision.

Back in July, I published a five-year 'Cymraeg 2050' strategy to ensure that that vision became a reality. I was looking towards the next five years of language policy, and we have some exciting plans in place, and more on those over coming months. But from time to time it's important to look back, and that's what we're doing today, and we do that looking back not just over the last year, but also the last five years, through the eyes of the Welsh Language Commissioner. 

The recent time hasn't been easy for the commissioner. Like every one of us, the commissioner had to adapt to new ways of working because of COVID. But, in addition to that, the commissioner suffered a very unfortunate cyber attack, and the restoration work following that attack has been significant. We continue to work with the commissioner to help him with that work of restoring his systems following that cyber attack.

In October, the commissioner published his five-year report. The purpose of the report is to give an independent overview of the situation of our language, something that is crucially important as we work towards the target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050, and to double the daily use of the Welsh language.

In his five-year report on the position of the Welsh language during that time, the commissioner focuses on the work of Government and sets us a number of challenges. And I always welcome considered challenges in all aspects of my work. Nobody has a monopoly on good ideas, and may I take this opportunity to thank all of the organisations and campaigners who have been working for the Welsh language in the period covered in that report?

Similar themes become apparent in both reports considered today, the annual report and the five-year report. For one thing, the commissioner asks us to bring more bodies and sectors under Welsh language standards. I want ours to be clear on standards: I support the standards regime and I look forward to working with Plaid Cymru on the basis of our co-operation agreement in this area. Like the commissioner, I am pleased that we now have enhanced rights to use the Welsh language with public bodies, and I also want to know what exactly the impact of standards has been on the day-to-day use of our language.

If it's not entirely clear up to this point, I'm determined to consider everything I do as Minister for the Welsh language, through whichever channel, through the prism of the use of the Welsh language. So, I've asked the commissioner to undertake a piece of work that considers this. I've done this because I'm eager to understand how the standards already in place assist Welsh speakers to make more use of the Welsh language and understand the barriers preventing people from using Welsh language services. In his five-year report, the commissioner himself recognises that the number choosing to use Welsh language services doesn't correspond to the number able to speak Welsh, so we need to look into that.

We must also understand more about the barriers that organisations face as they try to provide Welsh language services and to understand who is best placed to help them and what that help looks like. The conclusions of that work will enhance the influence of standards to be prepared for the future, with the intention that they increase the amount of Welsh we use on a daily basis.

The commissioner also shares our concerns about the impacts of COVID on the Welsh language. Throughout the pandemic, we've been working across Government and beyond in order to respond to a situation that was changing very quickly. We've published a substantial response to the audit we carried out on the impact of COVID 19 on Welsh-speaking community organisations, and we've already started to take action. Also, there have some successes during this difficult period. We've seen interest like never before in learning the Welsh language, for example, with a number of new virtual courses being undertaken.

My priorities for the Welsh language are clear. I want to see more people using whatever Welsh language skills they have on a daily basis, in their homes, in their communities and in the workplace. We need to learn lessons from what works and what doesn't, and we need to be brave enough to change our approach if it doesn't work. We need to prioritise, and that could mean stopping doing certain things in order to do things that are more far-reaching in their impact, and we must all, as a Government, as a commissioner and as partners, realise that the world has changed and, because of these changes, it's clear that we also need to change the way we work and to evolve.

I welcome today's debate on the two reports from the Welsh Language Commissioner, and I'd like to declare an interest. This is the first opportunity that I have had to comment on the work of the commissioner, and I would like to pay tribute to the hard work that both he and his team have put into fulfilling their roles, not only over the past 18 months, but before that. As I and many of us in this Chamber have said, as have you, Minister, the Welsh language belongs to everyone, from all walks of life. The work that the Welsh Language Commissioner undertakes is there to help not only promote the use of the Welsh language, but to safeguard it and expand it for future generations.

Looking at the five-year report, I note the commissioner’s concern that 

'Although the ambition to reach a million Welsh speakers was warmly welcomed at the time of its publication in 2017, there is some doubt as to whether the efforts to date are sufficient to achieve this.'

Bearing in mind that you've only been Minister for the Welsh language since May, I have a great deal of interest in hearing whether we are still on the right path to meet this target by 2050 and what actions you have taken to ensure that we do reach this target.

The report highlights that there is a perception amongst Welsh speakers that Welsh language services are improving to a level where they are happy to conduct their business with public organisations in the Welsh language. But, I share the commissioner's concern regarding the lack of reliable data to measure how much the Welsh language is being used when dealing with public organisations, and it is problematic that there is no requirement for the organisations that are governed by the Welsh language standards to monitor use of the language. What are your plans, Minister, to address these calls?

The report touches on the need for businesses and charities to promote the fact that they offer a Welsh language option. In not promoting this, many Welsh speakers are not going to enquire about the service's availability, and they won't then conduct their business in Welsh. Minister, I'd like to hear more about what role your Government can play in helping to demonstrate that services can be provided bilingually.

During this debate last year, Suzy Davies drew attention to the decline in demand for A-level Welsh, which could impact on plans to recruit and train more teachers with Welsh language skills. The challenge with regard to recruitment of teachers—particularly at secondary level—is a matter that I have raised with you before in the Siambr. I'd like to hear what progress has been made in this area.

Finally, Minister, may I ask about future schemes following on from the Arfor scheme which ran between 2016 and 2020 and allocated £2 million across four predominantly Welsh-speaking counties to create more and better jobs to support the language's growth? The commissioner states that there is currently little evidence of the success of this project, and a one-off injection of funding without a very specific purpose may not be sufficient to create an evidence base for the link between work and language. How is the Welsh Government planning to address this criticism, and what changes can be made to future schemes to ensure that they more fully deliver on their aims?

Minister, the reports from the commissioner are supportive, but they do set out a challenge for your Government to demonstrate that it has ideas to help it fulfil its commitments and reach its goals. I would be happy to support you in your efforts to encourage more people to take up and use the Welsh language, but I await responses to some of the commissioner's concerns that I have highlighted today to ensure that the future of the Welsh language is safeguarded for generations to come. Thank you.

I'm very pleased to be able to contribute to this debate today, but, before moving on, I do want to give heartfelt thanks to the commissioner for his work and his unstinting commitment to the Welsh language.

The Minister has already mentioned the benefits of bilingualism, and I, too, am very proud to have two languages, because two languages means twice as much choice, of course, and I want to encourage everyone in Wales—children, parents, adults—who wishes to learn the language to take advantage of the opportunity to be bilingual.

Bilingualism, of course, has a number of clear benefits—socially, economically, cognitively, and so on and so forth—and the use of language, or language use, is something that's very complex, and I've referred already to the confidence that one gains from using the language regularly. Now, a lack of confidence, of course, can sometimes be reflected in the choice to engage with public bodies through the medium of English. A lack of confidence very often goes back to a lack of Welsh language skills, so we need to look at it as a cycle: a lack of skills, lack of confidence, lack of use. So, rather than being critical of that engagement, we have to consider what public bodies are doing to make it easier for people to engage through the medium of Welsh, and I welcome the research that is to be done on that, because that bilingual service needs to be there as a default, and there should be no hindrance to people taking advantage of those opportunities. What's excellent in this Chamber is that we have Welsh learners who are also taking the opportunities to use the language, and that is a wonderful thing.

The commissioner's report notes a number of challenges that have faced the Welsh language over recent years, from Brexit and the pandemic to the cancellation of those social events that have been so important in bringing people together to use the Welsh language in all parts of Wales. There's also the issue of school closures and the issue of second homes that we've already considered this afternoon, and the shortage of mental health services through the medium of Welsh.

But I want to highlight one issue that is of great concern to me. This report is a five-year report, and it notes that one of the core objectives of the Welsh-medium education strategy is to increase capacity and skills within the Welsh-medium workforce. Now, unfortunately, we have seen a decline in this area over recent years. This data causes particular concern. There has been a striking fall over the past five years in the number of newly qualified teachers who are able to speak Welsh or to work through the medium of Welsh. There's been a reduction of 23 per cent in the numbers able to speak Welsh and 27 per cent in those who can work through the medium of Welsh. Now, this is far higher than the 8 per cent reduction in the total number of newly qualified teachers, and this is a cause of great concern, and it's clear that young Welsh speakers are following other careers outwith the education sector, unfortunately. So, I would like to ask you what exactly your plans are to tackle this in order to ensure an adequate workforce to deliver the 'Cymraeg 2050' strategy.

And if I may briefly turn to Welsh language standards before I conclude, I would like to ask you what the barriers are to implementing further standards in those sectors where standards haven't been imposed to date, such as public transport, regulators in the health sector, and a number of other public bodies, specifically water companies and housing associations. So, how do we draw them into the standards regime?

I want to conclude, Dirprwy Lywydd, with this: Sam referred to the fact that the commissioner had quoted some concerns and some doubt as to whether efforts to date are sufficient in delivering the objectives of the 2050 strategy. Do you agree with the commissioner's assessment of the position of the Welsh language? Thank you.

I would like to thank the Welsh Language Commissioner and his staff for their ongoing work. For those dependent on the care sector, speaking Welsh is not a matter of choice, it's a necessity. I'm currently dealing with a constituent whose mother, suffering from dementia, has lost the ability to speak in English. She recently suffered a fall and was forced to wait nearly five hours for help, a bad situation in and of itself, but one made so much worse because she was unable to communicate with ambulance staff. Hours spent in pain, frightened and totally isolated, all because staff don't speak your language. The ability to communicate is something we all take for granted. How terrifying must it be to be unable to make yourself understood at the time of your greatest need? Sadly, it's not just my constituent who was faced with this experience. Regrettably, the lack of Welsh-speaking staff in health and care results in this being all too common. The commissioner highlights that progress is being made to improve the number of Welsh speakers entering healthcare through schemes such as Tomorrow's Doctors. Tomorrow's Doctors, a joint venture between Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and the medical schools at Cardiff and Swansea, has, according to the commissioner's report, seen record numbers of Welsh-speaking students begin their medical training. However, it's one thing to train the Welsh-speaking doctors of tomorrow; it's quite another to convince them to stay and practise in Wales.

And while we are making progress, albeit slowly, in recruiting Welsh-speaking medics, we have an even bigger problem in social care. In social care, fewer than 13 per cent of staff across Wales are Welsh speakers. We are struggling to recruit sufficient staff to meet the care needs of today's Wales, let alone tomorrow's. In order to meet the challenges, there is a clamour to recruit staff from overseas. While this short-termism may alleviate the recruitment crisis, it will also reduce the number of Welsh-speaking care staff. We know that large numbers of social care staff are approaching retirement age in the coming decade. If we are not recruiting Welsh-speaking, Welsh-domiciled staff to replace them, then we are compounding the problem. People like my constituents are relying upon us to ensure that the staff looking after them can communicate well with them, and an inability to speak Welsh is a barrier to care, one that we must overcome urgently.

I thank the Welsh Language Commissioner for his ongoing work to improve the situation, but progress is far too slow. Not only must the Welsh Government take steps to make social care an attractive career with more than adequate pay and conditions, they must also incentivise Welsh speakers to take up a caring profession, as well as making it easier for existing staff to acquire Welsh language skills. Our constituents need us to act. How many more people suffering from dementia will be left isolated and alone, confused and afraid, all because staff cannot communicate with them in their mother tongue? Diolch yn fawr iawn.

I call on the Minister to reply to the debate. 

Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd, and may I thank everyone who's contributed to today's debate? And it's clear in hearing the enthusiastic words from all parts of the Siambr that we all have opportunities here in the Siambr to collaborate beyond the collaboration agreement that we have as a Government with Plaid Cymru, but with all parts of the Siambr to ensure the prosperity of the Welsh language, and to ensure that we do everything that we can as a Government, and also the other bodies that we work with as partners, to ensure that we do our very best to reach the target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050, and, of course, that other important aim of doubling the use of the Welsh language over the same period. And I'm sure that Members will have heard the emphasis that I placed in my opening speech on the use of the Welsh language as a policy lens for me as Minister for the Welsh language. 

Sam Kurtz and Cefin Campbell raised the important question: 'Are you sure that you are doing everything that needs to be done at the moment? Are you still making enough progress towards a million Welsh speakers and that important aim in terms of Welsh Government policy?' Well, the first opportunity for us to evaluate that in terms of data will arise next year with the census, and we'll all need to look at the important results of that. Several surveys in the meantime have shown progress, but it's on the basis of those numbers that we expect to be evaluated. So, there'll be an opportunity for all of us to look jointly at this on the progress next year, and there'll be an opportunity at that point to look again at the work programme that I announced during the summer. And that programme describes the steps that we intend to take as a Government, after I came into the role in May, over the next five years, to ensure that we are on track to reach that target of a million Welsh speakers.

In terms of whether that work programme is sufficient, there is no analysis in the commissioner's report of the work programme itself. I would welcome and appreciate an assessment of that contribution. Many of the points that the commissioner raises in the report are answered in that work programme, so I would welcome a further analysis of what we have already announced during the summer term. 

In terms of the wider points that Sam Kurtz made in terms of whether we're doing everything we can, I just want to emphasise that the focus on the use of the language is a very important one, I think, because it drives every other intervention that we can make as a Government, in terms of funding, in terms of collaborating with partners. Everything that we do, in terms of regulation, encouragement and promotion is an important part of the entire picture, but we need to ensure that that leads to greater daily use in our communities, in our workplaces, and within our families. I think that that focus is a very important one over the coming period, to ensure that we do make progress. 

Sam Kurtz mentioned a perception amongst the public that the standards and other regulations are increasing access to Welsh language services, and that of course is to be welcomed. The opportunity now is to move beyond that perception to being able to have a more robust conclusion based on data and analysis of that. There are no new data in the report that we're discussing today, and I would like to understand better the numbers of people who are using services. The point that Cefin Campbell made is very important in that regard, namely the confidence and ability to do that, but we need to have a better understanding than we currently have of the numbers of people who are using these services. The report itself says, of course, that that is fewer than the number of people who can speak Welsh, and I am pleased that we were able to collaborate with the commissioner to understand that picture more clearly, and the important point that Cefin Campbell made in his contribution in terms of understanding the barriers that mean that people don't request those services through the medium of Welsh, or that organisations can't provide them in the way that we would want. That understanding of the barriers is crucial, I believe, to the process of ensuring that the standards do what we want them to do.

Cefin Campbell asked a specific point on the barriers in terms of the process of setting standards. I think that was the thrust of the question. The process of establishing and imposing the standards, as it has evolved, hasn't tended towards a simple process. That is, there are steps that the commissioner has to take, further steps that we need to take as a Government, and the bodies that expect to be subject to these standards are then in a growing process and a continuous process of contribution and consultation. So, I don't think that's the best way of doing this. We've had a discussion and we continue to have discussions with the commissioner—a constructive discussion—about how we can ensure that that process is simpler, so that we can set standards that do their job more simply and easier in future, and, of course, that's part of the agreement that the Welsh Government has with Plaid Cymru, as well as the questions that Cefin Campbell asked with regard to standards for transport, water companies, health regulators and housing associations. I look forward to discussing that further with him.

But may I thank the commissioner for his work? May I thank all of the organisations and campaigners who make such an important contribution to the prosperity of the Welsh language and that help us towards our shared aim of a million Welsh speakers by 2050 and doubling the use of the language every day?

The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No. The motion is therefore agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.