7. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to make the Welsh language as accessible as possible in Cardiff? OQ57508

The menter iaith and the Urdd are active within the capital, offering opportunities to use, celebrate and enjoy the Welsh language. I'm looking forward to see Tafwyl returning to the castle in June. This is all important to support the growth of Welsh-medium education and so that everyone can see Welsh as a living language.

Thank you very much. As a son of the capital city, it's been wonderful to see the growth in the use of the Welsh language and to hear the Welsh language around me as I walk the streets of the capital. As you said, one of the highlights of the social calendar in Cardiff is the Tafwyl festival, and it was a great loss that it wasn't staged during the first year of the pandemic. It was wonderful to have it back last year, and I'm looking forward to its return this year too. It attracts thousands every year. I remember it when it was held in the car park of the Mochyn Du; it now meets in the castle and has become a major festival. But, with that success, with the 39,000 people who attend Tafwyl, there are additional costs attached to that, and we regularly hear in this Senedd about costs increasing in general. Menter Caerdydd believe that the cost of staging Tafwyl this year will be some 20 per cent higher than the figure for 2019. Menter Caerdydd has to secure that funding through bidding annually for various different grants, and that in itself creates uncertainty. The fact that access to Tafwyl is free of charge makes it so accessible, with many non-Welsh-speaking parents and residents and people from ethnic minority communities in Cardiff attending the festival. So, what plans does the Government have to ensure that Tafwyl continues to be accessible and continues to be appropriately funded? Thank you.

I'd like to thank Rhys ab Owen for that specific pitch for further funding for Tafwyl. We provide over £200,000 per annum to menter iaith Caerdydd and menter Bro Morgannwg to enable them to provide a range of projects, activities and events in Cardiff for families, children, young people and the whole community, and that's to be celebrated. It's wonderful that they're doing that work and that we're seeing the positive impact of that in the language's development in the capital city. As I said, I look forward to seeing Tafwyl returning to the castle, not to the Mochyn Du car park, as he reminded us it started in. It's a very important contribution not only to the Welsh language in the capital city, but also more broadly than that. 

Finally, question 8, Buffy Williams.