I'd like to thank the Conservatives for bringing this motion forward and to congratulate them on their contributions in the Welsh language. You mentioned the fact, and took pride in the fact, that S4C had been established by a Conservative Government. Of course, we would like to remind you about the stand taken by Gwynfor Evans, the former leader of Plaid Cymru, which led to the u-turn that led to the establishment of S4C. And I'd also like to pay tribute to the hundreds of campaigners, Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg and others, who fought for so long—for decades indeed—for a Welsh language channel, which has proven so crucial in safeguarding the Welsh language.

The census results do show a decline in the percentage of Welsh speakers in almost all areas, including for all age groups and for those between three and 15 years of age in all counties in my region. And the battle, as we have heard today, for access to Welsh-medium education has been long and frustrating in the area that I now represent, as in many areas of Wales. And it's a battle that I have lived through personally, not only for my own children in the Swansea area to try to open the Llwynderw Welsh-medium primary school, but also as a child growing up in Gwent, where the Labor council at the time—in the 1970s and 1980s—refused to open Welsh schools and were only willing to open units that were tied to English-medium schools. And I and my sister, because there was no comprehensive school—similar to what James Evans mentioned in his own area—had to travel across counties for many hours on buses to access Welsh-medium education.

And we also know that a high number of those who have been educated through the medium of Welsh lose their skills and confidence in using the language, having left school at 16 or 18 years old. I wouldn't be fluent—we spoke English at home—because I'm one of those characteristic stories where the grandparents were all Welsh-speaking, but my parents weren't given a Welsh-medium education, as children of the 1930s and 1940s, but were determined to campaign for Welsh-medium education so that my generation didn't miss out on the treasure that is the Welsh language.

We have to develop Welsh-medium and bilingual training and study opportunities in our further education colleges and in universities and in the workplace, as well as in our schools, for those in statutory education. And I'd like to pay tribute to the work of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol in contributing directly to the aim of ensuring that this happens, and that people do continue to develop their Welsh language skills once they have left school. The continuity of this work is crucial if we are going to double the daily use of the Welsh language and create workplaces where people are confident in using the Welsh language—creating workplaces and creating communities. And I was recently at Neath College, where excellent work is being done to deliver that.

The Swansea valley, where I live now, is an area of special linguistic sensitivity—that boundary that Mike Hedges mentioned. Ensuring not only access to Welsh-medium education, but also these opportunities to use the language, is crucial to the survival of the language in that area and similar areas, which is recognised in the last clause of the motion.

It is recognised that it's crucial that you need a diversity of ways to promote the language in order to enable and increase its use by old and new Welsh speakers. It is clear from the census that we need to improve on what's been done in the past, but we must also guard against throwing the baby out with the bath water in developing stronger, more effective policies. We need assurances that the initiatives that have received investment from the Welsh Government, for example, and have proved successful in promoting the use of the Welsh language, will continue to be supported. In the case of the Swansea valley, the papur bro, Llais—and I declare an interest; I am on the committee of that papur bro—the menter iaith and the Urdd do excellent work. I've previously spoken about the work of Tŷ'r Gwrhyd, which is a Welsh centre in Pontardawe, which was established with the support of a Welsh Government grant. It's a great example of what's possible in securing informal support for Welsh-medium education for children and adults and learners and to ensure community use of the Welsh language. So, I would like to know from the Minister what the Government's vision is in terms of building on these successful investments that have a successful track record of strengthening the Welsh language at a community level. Tŷ Tawe in Swansea is another example of an institution that's successful in this regard. Will the Government provide more support to centres such as Tŷ Tawe to enable them to continue with their activities, but also to develop that activity further?

In addition, in terms of promoting and safeguarding the language, we must ensure that every department within Government is talking to each other. We've had an example of this in my area, where the department for the Welsh language and the education department, although they're under the same Minister, perhaps aren't communicating when funding is allocated and promised to an authority for a plan that would have a detrimental impact on the Welsh language. 

So, I would like to thank the Conservatives for bringing this important debate before us. It's been so wonderful to hear all of our stories about our relationship with the Welsh language.