Language campaigners attack Welsh Government amid ‘crisis’ in Welsh speaking communities

Stephen Price

Welsh language campaigners have criticised the Welsh Government for their response to the recommendations of a report which aims to protect Welsh as a community language – decrying a “lack of vision” and any “real action”.

After a two-year study by the Commission for Welsh Speaking Communities led by Dr Simon Brooks, the Welsh Government has accepted several proposals which will see areas with high numbers of Welsh speakers receive extra support to strengthen the language.

Welsh Language Secretary Mark Drakeford announced the plans at the Urdd Eisteddfod today (29 May), confirming the government will target support to areas with higher concentrations of Welsh speakers.

Residents in these areas, and across Wales, will be able to access Welsh-medium education, and the Welsh Government will provide more guidance about the language across a range of policy areas

Recommendations have been accepted across policy areas including economy, housing, community development and education. The Government will coordinate with local authorities and partners to discuss and implement the recommendations.

Criticism

Mr Drakeford said: “Cymraeg belongs to us all, and to every community across Wales. I am grateful for the Commission’s hard work on this report, and I hope that by accepting their recommendations, we can strengthen Welsh in all our communities.”

“We agree in principle that areas of linguistic significance should be designated and will now progress this by working with partners to create tailored policies that respond to the specific needs of Welsh-speaking communities”

The recommendations have been criticised by language campaigners, Cymdeithas yr Iaith, however, who have given a mark of 33 out of 100 to the Welsh Government for its response to the recommendations of the Commission for Welsh Speaking Communities.

The group say the response recognises the crisis facing Welsh-speaking communities, but does not offer a vision or show a willingness to take real action.

Discussions

Jeff Smith, Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Sustainable Communities Group, said: “The Commission for Welsh Speaking Communities spent two years discussing, the Government has been discussing for 10 months and has decided on further discussion, and further consideration after next year’s election.

“Why is the Government still talking about discussion and further consideration rather than taking action? The Government’s inaction does not match the crisis facing our communities.

“Pupils and students at the Eisteddfod this week are being marked on their educational success, we have marked the Government’s response – their homework, if you like – but unfortunately it deserves a very low mark.”

One of the Commission’s main recommendations was to create areas of higher density linguistic significance and designate communities with 40% or more Welsh speakers as higher density areas. There, policies could be tailored to the economic, social, planning and linguistic requirements of those areas.

Responding to that recommendation, Jeff Smith added: “There is no commitment in the Government’s written response to accept this recommendation, and certainly no commitment to accept the recommendation that communities with 40% of speakers will be considered higher density areas by default.

“We are concerned that there is no commitment to legislate, so there is no guarantee that the areas will be created after all. As with this and other recommendations, our communities can’t afford any more delay.”

“Unintended consequences”

The Welsh Conservatives have also criticised the recommendations, which they say would use planning powers to favour Welsh speakers and restrict second home ownership in certain areas, which would “risk creating divisions and unintended consequences”.

Defining who can live in these areas and incorporating the Welsh language into planning applications could, they say, result in bureaucratic delays, limit housing supply, and alienate people outside these communities.

Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for the Welsh Language, Tom Giffard MS, said “While we welcome efforts to promote the Welsh language the Welsh Labour Government must take a balanced approach, ensuring the needs of all Welsh residents are met.

“Policies prioritising specific areas or communities based on linguistic criteria could unintentionally excluding or disadvantaging others, adding bureaucracy, and creating unintended consequences for residents and businesses. Such an approach risks fostering division instead of cohesion.

“The Welsh Government’s poor track record on housing and planning — including long waiting lists and repeatedly missing house-building targets — raises serious doubts about its ability to deliver these policies effectively and transparently.”

Plaid Cymru spokesperson for the Welsh language, Heledd Fychan MS said: “The Government have had almost a year to respond to the recommendations and plan how they will be implemented, so the lack of detail today is disappointing in terms of how the work will be undertaken and funded.

“We must get clarity on this, and promptly, if we are to succeed in preventing further decline of the language in Welsh-speaking communities.

“With so many challenges facing our language, Plaid Cymru is clear: we need more than just words of support – the findings of the Commission together with voices in Welsh-speaking communities must lead to action from the Welsh Government.”

Welsh Language Commissioner’s response

Following the publication of the report,  the Welsh Language Commissioner declared support for the Commission’s main recommendation that areas of higher density linguistic significance should be established.

The Commission say that the creation of these areas would be a useful vehicle for introducing the policy variations needed to address the unique challenges facing Welsh language strongholds. They wrote that they are “pleased to read that the Government is in agreement, and committed to the concept of establishing the areas of higher intensity linguistic significance.”

While in agreement, however, the Commissioner echoes points raised by Cymdeithas, pointing out that “the statement does not commit the Government to note how they will create the areas, nor proposes a timetable for doing so”.

The statement reads: “The Commission is clear that the Welsh Government needs to legislate to establish areas of higher density linguistic significance in order to prevent the decline of the Welsh language in the areas where it is strongest.

“We call on all political parties to commit in their manifestos for the 2026 Senedd Cymru election to implement the Commission’s main recommendation to establish areas of higher density linguistic significance and to put in place a clear plan and timetable to do so.

“We think it is crucial to ensure that resources are available to establish a specific unit to develop and coordinate public policy relevant to areas of higher density linguistic significance. It is disappointing to see that the Government does not believe that existing resources enable this to be done at the moment “

The Welsh Language Commissioner also welcomed the Government’s commitment to consider the relevance of the Hybu (promotion) standards.

They hope to see the Government to strengthen these standards so that they are a “more effective vehicle for community language planning in areas of higher density linguistic significance, and therefore also in areas with lower speaker density”. Their vision is that Hybu strategies are developed by local authorities by working with a range of key partners in order to create a community language planning strategy.

They say they would like to see these strategies sit alongside the Welsh in Education Strategic Plans and focus specifically on offering opportunities for children and young people to use the Welsh language and have cultural, community and sport experiences through the medium of Welsh. In areas of higher intensity linguistic significance, the Hybu strategies, they say, should be used as a framework for planning, reporting and monitoring different policy interventions.

The Commissioner added: “In its statement, the Government identifies workplaces as important places for promoting and facilitating the use of the Welsh language.

“One of the priority areas identified in our new strategic plan is the workplace, and we look forward to working with the Government, and other strategic partners, to build on the potential of the workplace to offer language progression to people beyond the world of education.

“We agree with the Government that more can be done to move public institutions along the linguistic continuum in terms of internal use of Welsh, and that more organisations should operate through the medium of Welsh where possible.

The Welsh Government’s response can be seen here – https://www.gov.wales/empowering-communities-strengthening-welsh-language-report-welsh-government-response