Welsh-speaking communities to get more government support

Welsh-speaking communities will receive more support after calls for a “radical shift” to stop the language’s decline.

Under Welsh government plans, there will be better access to education in Welsh and more guidance on the language across a range of areas, including housing, the economy, community development and education.

The support, targeted at areas with high numbers of Welsh speakers, aims to strengthen the language in its heartlands in counties such as Anglesey, Gwynedd, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.

Welsh Language Secretary Mark Drakeford said the government would “respond to the specific needs of Welsh-speaking communities”.

Gwynedd has an estimated 93,600 Welsh speakers and Carmarthenshire has 93,300, according to the Welsh government’s annual survey.

Plans come after the recommendations of a Welsh government commission in 2022 to halt the decline of Welsh speakers and its report made 60 suggestions to support the language in its traditional “heartlands”.

Earlier this year, Welsh government statistics indicated the percentage of people able to speak Welsh was the lowest recorded for more than eight years, causing some to question the target of creating one million Welsh speakers by 2050.

Drakeford will make the announcement at the Urdd Eisteddfod at Margam Park, Neath Port Talbot later.

The Welsh government said it would co-ordinate with local authorities and partners to discuss and implement the recommendations.

Drakeford said accepting the commission’s recommendations could “strengthen Welsh in our communities”.

The commission released a second report in February recommending that the effect on the Welsh language should be considered during planning applications, which was met with some concern from builders who said this could increase bureaucracy and lead to delays in building “much-needed” housing.

Elin Haf Gruffudd Jones, chairwoman of the Welsh Communities Commission, called the announcement a “historical turning point in public policy” but said it did not undermine how important the language was “across the whole of Wales”.