Education and Welsh Language Minister welcomes initial findings of the Commission for Welsh-Speaking Communities

The Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities, which was set up by the Welsh Government to look at ways of supporting Welsh as a community language, has published its preliminary findings today.

The Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles, will discuss the findings with the Commission’s Chair, Dr Simon Brooks, and hear the views of young people today, in a Q&A session at the Urdd Eisteddfod. This event is part of a series of events engaging with Welsh-speaking communities about what is important to them.

The report proposes designating as ‘areas of higher density linguistic significance’ in parts of Wales where intervention might be needed to sustain Welsh as a community language. This would enable public policy to be varied to acknowledge the needs of different parts of Wales.

Jeremy Miles, Minister for Education and Welsh Language, said: “I welcome the findings of the Commission’s report today. It’s crucial that our communities are strong and protected so Cymraeg can thrive. The challenges facing Welsh-speaking communities have intensified in recent years, which we saw in the census results last year and is reflected in the Commission’s paper. The paper acknowledges the importance of listening to the needs of our Welsh language communities directly, which why I have started a series of visits to hear from people about their lived experiences.”

Dr Simon Brooks, Chair of the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities, said: “The Commission has listened carefully to people’s views. Our preliminary finding is that further support is required to support Welsh as a community language, especially in socio-economic areas such as housing, planning, community development, as well as education. This could be achieved by allowing policies which impact on the social use of Welsh to be varied in different parts of Wales. To do this, the Commission believes that ‘areas of higher density linguistic significance’ should be designated, and our Position Paper discusses how this might be achieved.”