The next item is a statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language on Welsh Language community housing. And I call on the Minister, Jeremy Miles. 

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. The large number of second homes and short-term holiday accommodation we have in some parts of Wales have provoked strong feelings for some years. In these communities, there is an understandable sense of injustice that people can be priced out of their local housing market by those purchasing second homes or homes bought as short-term lets.

Wales has always been a welcoming nation, and we always want that to be the case. Tourism is an important industry in Wales, but too much holiday accommodation and too many second homes that are empty for much of the year can have a negative impact on the vibrancy of these areas and the sense of community. Often, second homes are concentrated in Welsh-speaking communities and can reduce our opportunities to use our language in those communities. Also, if young people cannot afford to live and work in our Welsh-speaking communities, that can also be to the detriment of the language.

As ever, it's easier to describe the problem and call for action than it is to solve it. But we are breaking new ground here in Wales in the solutions that we are bringing forward to face these challenges, and many beyond Wales have expressed an interest in what we are doing. We are pioneering, with linguistic considerations now included in discussions surrounding affordability and second homes. And that is what I am going to talk about today.

I want the 'Welsh Language Communities Housing Plan' to play a central part in our response to the numerous challenges facing Welsh-speaking communities. We received 800 responses to the consultation on the plan—the largest number we have received on an issue relating to the Welsh language, which shows the strength of feeling and the desire to act. The people of Wales want to safeguard and protect the Welsh language as a community language, as do I. So, diolch o galon to everyone who responded.

The main aim of this plan is to help communities to plan for themselves, to address particular challenges in their areas, drawing on local insight and energy. This is not just a housing plan. It draws together, for example, the work that the Minister for Climate Change, Julie James, has been doing in housing, as well as the work of Government on the economy, community development and language planning. It really is an example, Dirprwy Lywydd, of mainstreaming the language within other policies.

I am also announcing today a package of almost £500,000 to realise some of the plan’s objectives. To give you a flavour of these objectives: we want to create more co-operative enterprises, led by the community. There was considerable support for this idea in the consultation responses. These will be spaces where people can work and use the language freely—specifically Welsh-speaking spaces.

We also want to work with those who have a key role within the housing market—estate agents, solicitors, mortgage companies and local authorities. We have an opportunity to work with these local experts in order to share information about support available to help local people to purchase or rent properties that are affordable.

We will also create a network of cultural ambassadors. These will be local people who know their communities well. They will explain cultural issues and the language situation in order to help integrate newcomers. People are more willing to be part of a community when they understand the community in which they live.

We frequently hear of houses being sold before reaching the market, or being sold quickly to buyers who have the means to purchase them, often without the need for a mortgage. We also hear of sellers accepting lower prices from local people, and allowing adequate time for a loan to be arranged. There are examples of sellers helping buyers, and we must bear in mind that it is not estate agents who decide who buys a property—the ultimate decision is in the hands of the seller. We will therefore establish a fair chance scheme, to raise awareness among sellers or prospective sellers of the options they have to support people who want to remain in or return to the communities where they were brought up. This will be a voluntary scheme, highlighting what can be done to help local people access an affordable house to purchase or rent.

During the National Eisteddfod this year, I launched the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities. The commission will respond to challenges facing Welsh-speaking communities. Based on information provided by experts in the field, the commission will compile a report within two years, making policy recommendations. The commission has already met, and I expect its conclusions may be challenging to many, but it is essential that we ground our policies in evidence and reality.

An important part of the plan will be to safeguard Welsh place names, which also features in our programme for government. We received a strong and constructive consultation response to this issue. We know that the names of houses, businesses, lakes and mountains impact the character of an area, and that people are concerned about this. And that is why we committed to do all we can to safeguard Welsh place names, so that future generations may enjoy them too. We need to develop our evidence base for action, not only concerning the number of names that are changing, but how and where they are changing. So, we are commissioning rigorous research to help us in that regard. We will also continue to work with local authorities to establish the exact state of affairs, and a variety of solutions will be needed in order to make a real difference.

The economic health of Welsh-speaking communities is important to the flourishing of the language. Members will have seen from announcements earlier this week that further funding will be provided to build on the work of the previous Arfor programme. This will support businesses and create employment opportunities in some of our Welsh-speaking communities, adding value to our mainstream programmes and to the 'Welsh Language Communities Housing Plan'.

If we want local people to have a realistic chance to live in our Welsh-speaking communities, to maintain the vibrancy of the language as a natural part of everyday social and economic life, to ensure the flourishing of Welsh in our communities and across our nation, we must act boldly. The Welsh Government, in co-operation with Plaid Cymru, has done so, and today’s announcement of the 'Welsh Language Communities Housing Plan', alongside the range of other measures we have taken, is the latest step in that journey to make a practical reality of the hawl i fyw adref.

I refer Members to my declaration of interest forms published, in terms of property ownership.

Thank you for the statement. I think that every Member of the Senedd is supportive of the target of having a million Welsh speakers by 2050. [Interruption.]

Thank you. It's a start. [Laughter.]

Importantly, our First Minister has called Wales a nation of sanctuary. So, for me, I have to start off my contribution today that there must not be here in Wales, at any time, any bias or prejudice to interfere against any person looking to buy a house in Wales. Now, I do respect the fact that the fair chance scheme, which may allow properties to be marketed locally only, for a fixed period, is voluntary, but by no means should this be made compulsory, because, after all, we do live in a free market.

Now, if we take Ireland, for instance, there are technically a million people who mention in the census and things that they can speak Irish, but, in reality, there are fewer than 80,000 who do speak that every day. That is the situation we're all working to avoid here, and we all want the Welsh language to thrive. However, we need sustainable communities and much better paid job opportunities in those areas where this plan is designed to support. At present, the two main sectors though, agriculture and tourism, have actually come under significant pressure from your Government, with all the regulations set on our farmers and also with tourism, with some of the moves now in tourism, and this is mainly as a result of the Labour and Plaid Cymru co-operation agreement.

Your plan quite rightly states that you've changed the rules around short-term holiday accommodation, introducing the 182 days barrier. Now, the case has been made against this so eloquently by the sector, and even the farming unions, so you've got to be a bit careful that what you're designing doesn't have unintended consequences, because it is completely illogical that farmers are likely to be charged a premium on their holiday let because they do not have enough customers or visitors to meet the 182 threshold, and planning conditions stop them from being rented in the private sector on the open market. These properties were only ever designed to be holiday let accommodation, and, when farmers have diversified, you should not be looking to pull that rug from under them.

Thankfully, the Conservative UK Government are backing schemes that will boost economic and community growth in west Wales, such as 200 jobs with His Majesty's Revenue and Customs at Holyhead. So, I would be pleased, Minister, if you could clarify how many jobs in west Wales—. The Arfor 2, which will be costing £11 million, how many jobs is that expected to deliver? And what kind of jobs? Are we talking now about higher paid roles? Because we mustn't forget here that, in Wales, the average median wage is £3,000 to £4,000 less than in England. So, if our local Welsh people were earning more money with better jobs, greater pay, then surely they would find it easier to actually then look to own their own homes.

We could also replicate our Prime Minister's low-tax investment zones. I know that the commission that you've set up is to help develop future policies too, but it could take two years for that commission to publish their report. So, is there any chance you'll be bringing that back any sooner, given the crisis facing some of our communities?

I was, however, disappointed to read in the plan that there is no evidence base currently of the problem of place names being changed. And I see this a lot, actually, in my own constituency. When we know of examples, such as farms—long, traditional Welsh family-owned farms—renamed Hakuna Matata, it seems unnecessary to commission specific research before you're prepared to take some kind of action.

It's going to take years before we see any progress at all on seeing local people more able to afford houses in their communities, because, fundamentally, this isn't the problem of second home owners or holiday let owners or guest house owners or anything. The fact is that the Welsh Labour Government have simply failed to build enough houses. In the first part of this year, the number is 1,236, I think it is, and that's considerably lower than the year before, so where is your dynamism to actually solve these problems in our Welsh communities by building houses? 

Janet, you will need to conclude now, please.

Yes. So, I have a couple of questions for you. Can you explain how many new builds are you hoping to see in Welsh language speaking areas? Whilst you are pursuing planning changes, in terms of categorisation, will you be focusing on planning reform that will boost house building and infrastructure projects, as our Prime Minister is doing? And, finally, where you have these Welsh-speaking only spaces, where we welcome people in as a nation of sanctuary, how will you find these communities remaining cohesive, rather than having exclusive bubbles, where that may then prevent communities from joining up together? Thank you.

Well, can I just firstly say that I thought very much that the Member's contribution started off better than it ended? I congratulate her on her use of Welsh in the Chamber, and encourage much more of that.

So, she made a number of wide-ranging points, some of which were germane to the statement, some of which were in relation to other areas. I think it's really important that we establish from the start that there is no tension between welcoming people into our communities and the success of the Welsh language. We see every day people from all parts of the world who've chosen to come to live here in Wales and we open our arms to them learning Welsh. I think that's really to be celebrated. It's a really fantastic thing to see. We've seen Ukrainian children learning Welsh. We see it with people coming from other parts of the UK and further afield. 

The role of the llysgenhadon diwylliannol is really important in this, in bringing people into the community, explaining the cultural context of the place that they've chosen to live. I think that's a really important part of creating that welcoming environment. I detect in the Member's question signs of having read the speech I gave at the Eisteddfod, so I'll thank her for the implicit compliment in that, but she's right to say that the headline numbers aren't sufficient if people aren't using the language every day. That's why we absolutely want to see local economies that are flourishing. I hear the point that she's made consistently about the threshold for self-catering accommodation. We need to make sure that property in that part of the sector is being used productively for the economy. We don't want to see those properties being empty for a long time and detracting from the ability of the community to flourish economically, socially and from a linguistic point of view. 

She is making many of the points in relation to employment opportunities in parts of Wales that I was making in the last Senedd when I was the Brexit Minister. I'm glad to see that she's finally realised the consequence of some of the decisions that she was happy to support at the tail end of the last Senedd. I think it's very welcome to see that Damascene conversion, which today's contribution was evidence of. I do also genuinely welcome the support that she gives for an ambitious approach in relation to place names. I do recognise that's probably in tension with her other commitment to the free market, so I think it's particularly significant that she sees that as part of the solution.

What I will say, though, in seriousness, in closing in response to her points, is that we have ambitious targets to build 20,000 social homes for rent, but she will know that the consequences of the economic collapse of the last 10 days has been to push up interest rates very considerably, and that will put incredible pressure on our Government's house-building targets and the targets of every other Government in the UK in that space as well. That's why it's so important that UK Government economic policy is set with these broader social objectives in mind. I share with her the ambition to make sure that we build plenty of homes in Wales for people to be able to live in them affordably, but the actions of her colleagues in Westminster are actually making that harder rather than easier.

Thank you, Minister, for the statement and thank you for the opportunity to have a look at the statement before the announcement today. The Minister is entirely right to say that second homes have caused major problems for our rural and coastal communities, particularly in those areas where the Welsh language is at its strongest, and have done for decades. A large number of second homes and short-term holiday lets has led to the Welsh language losing ground and to people leaving their communities, along with the associated detrimental social impact on communities. That, of course, is the sad context, but I am pleased, in co-operation with Plaid Cymru and by listening to the voice of campaigners who have, for decades, been so eloquent in expressing their concerns and putting forward possible solutions, that there is now light at the end of the tunnel.

I agree with the Minister’s statement that we are breaking new ground here in Wales. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the package of measures already announced, namely the new 'Welsh Language Communities Housing Plan', and that there is funding to support delivery in achieving this aim. There is a question, of course, as to whether this funding is sufficient, because the housing crisis is vast. So, I'd like to seek assurance about the sufficiency of the plan. I'd like to ask the Minister how exactly he foresees that this plan will help us achieve the aims of the wider package of measures to deal with the second homes crisis that we've all talked about this afternoon.

I'd like to emphasise that, whilst there are areas with large numbers of Welsh speakers and some with fewer Welsh speakers in them, the Welsh language and Welsh culture belong to everyone in Wales, from Môn to Monmouth. I note that you mentioned the Arfor region, which runs from Môn to Carmarthenshire, but you will know that there are other areas, such as the area where you grew up in the Swansea valley, that have a large number of Welsh speakers, also Maesteg, or the vales of Clwyd and Ceiriog. So, how does the Minister foresee that the plan will safeguard the language and culture across Wales, not just in the traditional strongholds of the Welsh language?

As we await a full analysis of the census results, it's clear that data related to the language will have implications for any Government plan to safeguard the Welsh language. In other words, the census will give a clearer picture of the Welsh language’s status, and we will need to consider this data as we move ahead with any new policies. So, is the Minister confident that this plan will be fit for purpose, and that it will be able to take into account the census results?

The Minister mentioned the matter of properties being sold before they reach the market, or being sold quickly to a buyer who has the financial means to buy it outright. The Minister mentioned the establishment of a fair chance scheme, as Janet Finch-Saunders also mentioned. She didn't want to see this being put on a statutory footing, but I'm eager to see whether you have ideas to develop this voluntary scheme to be on a statutory footing that will continue for years to come, and will be extended for other areas as well, to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to live in their communities.  

Another aspect that I would like to touch upon is the issue of place names, as you mentioned at the end of your previous contribution. I welcome the fact that this plan aims to help protect place names, something that this party has talked about several times. We remember the legislative proposal of Dai Lloyd to safeguard place names in Wales. To reiterate the point made earlier, the Welsh language and culture belong to every one of us, and are part of our history and inheritance as a whole nation. So, how does the Minister foresee that the plan will help to protect the language, via place names, on a statutory level?

Finally, the 'Welsh Language Communities Housing Plan' talks about co-operatives and mutuals. But, bearing in mind the reticence of the Government to develop a statutory framework to enable communities to take ownership of community assets, what role has the Minister for Social Justice played in developing this plan? And will you collaborate with her to strengthen the statutory framework to enable communities to take ownership of community assets to meet your objectives? Thank you. 

Thank you for those further questions. If I could begin on the issue of funding, I haven't outlined all funding sources related to the work that we're dealing with today. We have provided funding to Cwmpas to support co-operative enterprises and housing so that we can bring in the experience of co-operatives such as PLANED, Partneriaeth Ogwen and Cwmni Bro Ffestiniog. There's a lot of that that has been funded through the programme that Cwmpas is working with us on at the moment. 

I agree entirely with what the Member said; the Welsh language belongs to everyone. One of the exciting elements in the work of the new commission, I think, will be to look at the position of the Welsh language in all parts of Wales, and that will help us to understand the economic and social impact on the language. That will help us to draw up policies that will be applicable in all parts of Wales in due time. This will happen as part of the work of the commission. One of the elements currently under consideration is this concept of areas of linguistic sensitivity, where there is a possibility that education policy, planning policy and other areas may have an impact on the Welsh language in that community. The work of the commission will be very important in creating an evidence base for that, and that will work in different ways in the Welsh-speaking heartlands on the one hand, as compared to other areas of Wales on the other. So, that's part of the work of the commission in the medium term, too.

We await the census results, as the Member said. I don't know what they will be at the moment. What we've endeavoured to do in this and with the other steps that we've taken in terms of our response to the challenge of second homes—and, by the way, in the context of education policy in relation to the Welsh language—is that we are as ambitious as we can be. We don't know what the census results will be; we will know by the end of the year, hopefully. Whatever they are, we have more work to do, and that's the intention here—to be as ambitious as possible. The steps we've taken here, in planning, and in taxation, have been major steps forward, as the Member acknowledged in his contribution. But, we will look again at the trajectory when we get the census results to see if it's applicable for the next five or 10 years. So, we'll have an opportunity to review the trajectory to 2050 in that context.

In terms of the fair chance scheme, the question of what's devolved and what's not devolved is pertinent in terms of our ability as a Government to tackle this, but we are looking at one legal element, namely what more can sellers do in terms of covenants on their properties. So, that work will be ongoing, and there's a legal element to that, which will perhaps offer some kind of opportunity.

In a similar vein, he asked about the legislative basis for the work on place names. I'm not putting to one side the possibility of doing something legislative, but the legislative programme for this Senedd is very full indeed. We wouldn't yet know what we'd need that legislation to do. The situation is different in terms of place names, the names of houses, and business names, and that's quite a complex area in terms of powers and in terms of what happens on the ground. But the purpose of looking at the evidence base and commissioning that research is that we can see exactly where we need legislation to achieve our objectives, and what we can do without legislation. We don't yet know the answers to those questions. 

I draw attention to my declaration of interest in terms of property ownership. The Minister will be aware of the attention that I've paid recently to the tenants who told us that their landlord in the Bodorgan estate has asked them to leave their homes, to turn them into holiday accommodation. My concern here is for the individuals and families who face losing their homes, but I'm also concerned about the impact on the housing stock locally. May I draw the Minister's attention today to a letter that a constituent sent me yesterday? It was posted through a front door in Benllech:

'I do hope you don't mind me contacting you. I'm looking for a property in your area and wondered if you might be interested in selling or renting your property long term.'

A company called Coastal Holidays was responsible for sending that letter—not a local tourism company, I have to say, but a company from Warwick, according to their website. Very importantly, it's a company that is trying purposefully to take properties out of the local housing stock, disenfranchising people in the community from being able to buy those houses and driving prices up.

The Minister today has talked about good practice that he wants to see developing. Does the Minister agree with me that what we see in this letter is poor practice? It's not unique, of course, but it is testimony to why we need the kinds of measures that are being mentioned today that emanate from the co-operation agreement, and why we need to take robust action, including legislation, to safeguard the housing market, and through that safeguard the Welsh language.

I accept that that's bad practice. That's the very kind of thing that we want to tackle in the broader plans that we have. What I've said today will make a contribution. Good practice isn't always enough; we sometimes will need to change legislation or taxation. We're doing that in terms of planning and LTT and so on. So, that broader range of things will make a difference, hopefully. 

I thank the Minister.