2. How will the Welsh Government make use of the results of the 2021 census? OQ58867

I thank the Member for that. Llywydd, results from the 2021 census have started to be released, but key information, such as that on housing tenure, is yet to be published. The full picture will be used, for example, into strengthening the next 'Future Trends' report, which is a key requirement of the Well-being of Future Generations Act (Wales) 2015.

Thank you. Now, according to the latest census results we've seen, 55.2 per cent of people selected a Welsh-only identity in Wales in 2021, and that's a decrease from 57.5 per cent in 2011. Meanwhile, 18.5 per cent of people selected a British-only identity, which saw an increase from 16.9 per cent in 2011. However, the number of people selecting both Welsh and British identities also rose to 8.1 per cent in 2021, which was an increase from 7.1 per cent in 2011. Now, this does stand directly in contrast to your comments at the Welsh Affairs Committee, where you seemed to suggest that, somehow, British identity was on the decline and Welsh-only identity was increasing. The increase in people holding both Welsh and British national identity, recorded by the latest census over the past decade, actually now shows the strength and affection that people have for our centuries old union. People are clearly proud to be both Welsh and British, and they want to see— 

Can we address the question to the First Minister, rather than to your colleagues on your own benches? So, can we have the question, please, Janet Finch-Saunders? 

—and we want to see a strong Wales in a strong United Kingdom. First Minister, will you make clear to your governing comrades over in Plaid Cymru that people have had enough of their divisive push for independence and that they want us to focus on the issues that really matter to the people of Wales? 

Look, I'm sorry—

Will you stand up for our United Kingdom? [Interruption.]

Well drafted by whoever drafted it. 

Well, Llywydd, the identity question in the census is a very interesting one, and the results that it shows, I think, are definitely worth proper exploration. Now, why do we see some of the changes that the Member referred to? Well, we know that the number of deaths over the last decade exceeded the number of births that took place in Wales. So, the growth in the population in Wales comes exclusively from people who have not been living in Wales moving into Wales. Twenty-three thousand more people born in England were recorded as living in Wales in the 2021 census than as in 2011. They're very, very heavily concentrated in two local authorities in Wales: they live in Flintshire and they live in Newport. In other words, they live right by the border, and they're people whose lives are fluid, living in one place, working in another, and it's no surprise, therefore, that they bring that sense of their identity with them. I think those figures are worth serious debate. I would say that they reinforce what this party—my party—has always believed, that what people in Wales benefit from is strong devolution, with the capacity of this Senedd to make decisions on the things that affect only people in Wales, but benefit as well from being in the United Kingdom. That's always been the policy of my party, and I'm very happy to reinforce it again this afternoon. 

The Welsh language belongs to all of us, but the recent census results have given us cause for concern. The example of the Welsh language has long been a beacon of hope for minority languages across the world for many years. It's the subject of hope, and, amongst the clamours of dismay about these figures, I want to understand how the Welsh Government will succeed in offering new hope and acting on it. Raymond Williams said that, 

'to be truly radical is to make hope possible, rather than despair convincing'.

This turning point must be a light in the dark and turn goodwill into determination. Our old language must survive. How will you make the language’s survival not only possible, but inevitable?

Of course, I agree with the comments made by Raymond Williams, and that's why, having seen the figures in the census, we are still confident about the future of the language here in Wales, and that's important. I acknowledge what Delyth Jewell said about people losing confidence when they initially saw the figures. But, having had time to consider the census results and to see that comparison between what's in the census and what's in the figures that we gather annually, then I think there's something important to pursue there. That's why I've taken the opportunity to speak with those responsible for statistics within the Welsh Government, and, having done that, I will write to Sir Ian Diamond, who chairs the ONS, which is responsible for the census, to ask them to carry out a piece of work alongside us in order to see what's behind those figures that we saw published last week and the figures that the ONS has published year on year now, which identify a growth in the use of the Welsh language. In doing that, then I do think that we can learn some lessons to see what more we can do to give people confidence here in Wales to use the Welsh language and to develop the use of the Welsh language and the numbers who are able to speak Welsh in future.