The aim of our policy work is to influence the Welsh Government and other bodies to ensure that their policies lead to increasing the number of people who speak Welsh and have the opportunity to do so daily. By doing so we are contributing to realizing the vision of the Welsh Government’s Cymraeg 2050 strategy.
We take proactive steps in a number of policy areas by working with partners and policy experts, drawing up recommendations and sharing opinions and evidence with policy makers. We also respond to consultations by the Welsh Government, Welsh Parliament committees and other bodies. Our resources mean that we mainly respond to consultations on a national, regional and county basis.
You can read below about our work influencing policy in several areas.
Learning and skills
The education and training system is the main method of creating Welsh speakers. It is therefore crucial that as many children as possible receive education through the medium of Welsh, from the early years to statutory education and on to post-16 education and training. National policies in the field of education and skills must enable more children and young people to speak and use Welsh confidently.
We consider the following developments a priority:
- increasing the Welsh language skills of the education workforce
- facilitating access to Welsh-medium education by expanding Welsh-medium provision and making accessible travel arrangements
- improving Welsh-medium Additional Learning Needs (ALN) provision
- improving Welsh-medium provision in the post-compulsory education sector
- strengthening strategic planning to ensure linguistic continuity as individuals leave the education sector and enter the workplace
- increasing the use of Welsh in the workplace to maintain young people’s Welsh language skills and ensure that they use the language in the long term
Further reading:
Planning and housing, economic development and Welsh language communities
Our wish is to see the Welsh language grow strong throughout Wales. To make this a reality it is crucial that we prevent a decline in the position of the Welsh language in the areas where it is strongest. One way to ensure that is to mainstream the Welsh language in policy areas that are key to the future of these communities, such as planning, housing and developing the economy. The challenge is to ensure that people have good quality jobs, attractive careers and homes so that they can stay in their communities or return to them.
We consider the following developments a priority:
- implementing the main recommendation of the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities’ report to establish areas of higher density linguistic significance
- improving the evidence base showing the effects of economic and housing developments on the Welsh language
- on the basis of firm evidence, ensuring that decisions about economic and housing developments in communities with a high density of Welsh speakers strengthen the position of Welsh as a community language
Further reading:
Agriculture
The agricultural industry is the employment sector with the highest proportion of Welsh speakers in Wales. Agricultural businesses support many rural communities where Welsh is a natural everyday language. It is therefore crucial to grow and strengthen the rural economy and the agricultural sector and ensure that the Welsh language is promoted within the agricultural community.
We consider the following development a priority:
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ensuring that the Sustainable Farming Scheme that derives from the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023 supports the socio-economic infrastructure of Welsh language communities and promotes and facilitates the use of the Welsh language more generally
Further reading:
Culture, broadcasting and the media
Culture, broadcasting and the Welsh-language media are important to the viability of the language, economically and in terms of community. They highlight and normalize the language, educate and support speakers in using Welsh and give value to Welsh language skills at work and offer work opportunities in Welsh.
We consider the following developments a priority:
- making the Welsh language central to promoting culture in a wide variety of contexts, including Welsh language communities, the education system, economic growth, tourism, digital development and workforce planning
- ensuring that the funding arrangements of the Welsh language broadcasting industry strengthen and extend the Welsh language provision
Further reading:
Health and care
Being able to use the Welsh language when receiving health and care services is crucial, especially as people will often be in a position of weakness when they try to receive those services. Care in Welsh is a clinical need for many, including children and young people, older people, people living with dementia and people with learning disabilities and mental health problems. We wish to see an increase in the opportunities to use the Welsh language with the health and care sector in general and with the charities that work in the sector, including an emphasis on ensuring that people receive clinical care in Welsh.
We consider the following development a priority:
- moving from accepting and discussing the ‘active offer’ as a policy concept, to a situation where it has a practical impact on the way care is planned, provided and funded, leading to the following:
- a marked increase in the ability of the health and care sector to provide services through the medium of Welsh, particularly in key areas such as dementia care, stroke, additional learning needs and mental health
- more of the health and care workforce with appropriate Welsh language skills, and all practitioners leaving publicly-funded health and care training with language awareness
