Welsh Language Commissioner pledges to ‘make a difference’

The Welsh Language Commissioner has set out specific priorities in her latest strategic plan to focus on the issues that could make the biggest difference to the future of the Welsh language.

The new five-year plan published today (Monday, 7 April) will run until the end of Efa Gruffudd Jones’ term in office.

Children and young people, health and care, and Welsh in the workplace are the three priorities identified.

Throughout this period, the Commissioner will work to strengthen Welsh language provision and services in these areas, working closely with key partners.

“Crucial” phase

According to Efa Gruffudd Jones, Welsh Language Commissioner, the next phase is crucial for the language.

She shared: “We are living in a period of challenging financial constraints for the public sector and many other sectors in Wales. Ensuring, therefore, that organisations put the Welsh language at the heart of their working practices is more important than ever. I want us to be a flexible, imaginative and enterprising organisation over the next period.

“My office and I have an important contribution to make to the Cymraeg 2050 national strategy, and this needs to be considered alongside work in key policy areas such as education, and the wider strategies for promoting and facilitating the Welsh language at national, local and community level.

“Progressive collaboration between a wide range of organisations and partners is needed to bring together the various key elements of language planning. I look forward to collaborating with various partners to make this vision a reality.”

Emphasis

Sarah McCarty, Chief Executive of Social Care Wales, welcomed the emphasis on health and social care, saying:
“Being able to access care and support in your language of choice is something that we’re passionate about. We recently held a conference dedicated to Welsh Language and Dignity in Care to share learning and celebrate positive practice.

“There’s room for improvement, and I look forward to working with the Welsh Language Commissioner and the social care sector to support the vision outlined in the strategic plan and improve services for people using care and support.”

The Welsh Language and Education Bill, which is currently passing through the Senedd, offers strong possibilities in terms of improving the Welsh language skills of our children and young people in our schools, but there is a need to ensure a pathway to using Welsh in the workplace.

This is to be welcomed according to Dr Mandy James, Bilingual Communications Officer TUC Cymru. She said: “Ensuring that young people can use the Welsh language at work after completing their education is essential.

“Over the past few years we have been working closely with our affiliated trade unions and members to promote the benefits of developing bilingual workplaces and skills.

“These skills are critical to retaining and safeguarding bilingual jobs and workforces in our communities and for the creation of new jobs.”

Film

To coincide with the new plan, a film has been produced outlining objectives and priorities. One of the contributors in the video is Yusef Yassine, a 16 yr old student at Ysgol Glantaf, Cardiff.

Yusef said: “I use Welsh regularly in school but there needs to be more opportunities to use the language in the community outside of school and in the world of work. I’m glad to see that young people are highlighted in the plan and hope that my friends and I can continue to use the language in our daily lives.”

Efa Gruffudd Jones often emphasises that children and young people play a key role in ensuring that Welsh is a living language to be heard every day on our streets and in our communities.

In welcoming the focus on children and young people, Rocio Cifuentes, Children’s Commissioner for Wales, said: “Language and identity are some of children’s fundamental rights. I’m looking forward to continuing to work in partnership with Efa to make sure these rights become a reality for a generation of children and young people in Wales.”

The plan itself also outlines how the Commissioner will use regulatory powers as well as its promoting, influencing and communication work to achieve the ambitious aims and objectives.

Response

Cymdeithas yr Iaith has welcomed the vision in the Welsh Language Commissioner’s Strategic Plan of a ‘A Wales where people can live their life in Welsh’ but says that more emphasis must be put on using regulatory powers, extending Welsh Language Standards and strengthening language rights if that aim is to be realised.

The Welsh Language Commissioner consulted on a Strategic Plan at the end of last year. Cymdeithas criticised the Plan in its response as the word “right” did not appear once and that the Plan encourages the public to make more use of Welsh language services without recognising the fact that context plays a large part in people’s choice of language and that bodies and organisations need to proactively provide Welsh language services.

Responding to the Strategic Plan Sian Howys said: “We welcome the inclusion of a new objective in the Plan which clearly states that the Commissioner will be an advocate on behalf of the people of Wales, and the vision of a Wales where people can live their lives through the Welsh language, but the Commissioner needs to give clear guidance on people’s rights and move the duty on organisations to offer and expand services in Welsh.

“If we consider that the Government’s ‘More than Just Words’ Strategy says that the Health Boards should implement a a proactive language offer so that people receive services in Welsh, but we know that this doesn’t usually happen.”

Maes Cymdeithas yr Iaith is also keen to see the Comisiynydd receive sufficient support and resources from the Government to extend its work to the areas of housing and planning and lead on building new infrastructure for the Welsh language to flourish as a community language.

Sian Howys added: “There is no mention of the Welsh language as a community language in the Strategic Plan, the Welsh language exists day to day in our communities, but our Welsh communities are very fragile and there are huge challenges in terms of securing housing and work for people in those communities.

“The Commissioner has a key role to develop the role in terms of responding to local authorities’ Local Development Plans, planning permission that has a significance for the Welsh language, scrutinising the Welsh Language in Education Strategic Plans and the Welsh language education delivery plans at school level proposed in the Education Bill.

“Specialist units are needed to do that work. the Commissioner doesn’t have the resources to do that work at the moment, but the Commissioner should be calling for that.”

The Strategic Plan can be read in full here.