7. Statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language: Census 2021 — Welsh Language Results

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:04 pm on 24 January 2023.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 6:04, 24 January 2023

(Translated)

I thank Mabon ap Gwynfor for those questions. I think he's right to say that there are elements in terms of moving, in terms of out-migration, in terms of demographics, in terms of opportunities, and the commission is certainly going to tackle those sorts of issues—part of the work that they are currently doing is socioeconomic analysis. They have called for evidence and that is coming in, and I expect that we'll hear some challenging things as a result of that—hearing honest answers, with real evidence on the ground, is what's needed as the basis for policy. So, I do welcome that.

In terms of the economic challenge, I do think that we have—. If you look at the distribution in terms of communities, I believe that there is a very important role to be played by our universities as economic drivers in different parts of Wales where this is a challenge. We need to look at what more we can do in that area, Of course, the Arfor programme is doing its work, but I am very confident that the work that the commission will do is going to be very significant in that context.

Regarding investing in technology, we as a Government are already investing in contemporary items, such as the investment in VR for immersion for young people, so they can do that in a virtual-reality context—so, things that young people do identify as opportunities, to use that to spread the language. But I do think the Member is right to mention things like YouTube and Netflix and so forth. The streaming services, such as Amazon Prime and Netflix, are very important. Dal y Mellt is on Netflix now, which is great—I hope that'll be the first of many items of Welsh content on those streaming services.