A new report has said the Welsh Government could create "designating areas of linguistic significance" in order to protect the Welsh language. The position paper by the Commission for Welsh-Speaking Communities was published on Thursday and aims to make recommendations to strengthen Welsh-speaking communities.
It comes after the publication of the 'Second Homes: Developing New Policies in Wales' report, which highlighted the structural changes Welsh-speaking communities were facing as a result of Brexit and the effects of coronavirus pandemic, found that more research needed to be done to find evidence that second homes had an impact on the sustainability of communities and the Welsh language.
Although the report acknowledged that there was a discourse surrounding second homes and their impact on the sustainability of Welsh communities and the Welsh language, it concluded that it was "anecdotal" and "not based on detailed research". As a result, the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles MS, concluded that "further consideration" was needed to look into the matter and more specifically how to protect the Welsh language's future.
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The position paper, which was published at the Urdd National Eisteddfod in Carmarthenshire this week, sets out the commission's initial findings and summarises the discussions on evidence collected by the commission in the year since it was established. It has also responded to the 2021 Census results, which showed a decline in the number of people able to speak Welsh across Wales. You can read more about the Census' findings on the Welsh language here.
According to the Welsh Government, the commission has looked closely at various challenges and potential solutions for the sustainability of the Welsh language. One of which was the need for targeted policy interventions in some parts of Wales in order to support and maintain Welsh as a community language.
To do this, the commission suggests that the Welsh Government and local authorities could designate "areas of higher density linguistic significance", which would be areas where Welsh is considered to be under pressure as a community language. Although the commission acknowledged that the concept of designating areas of linguistic significance was not a new one, it felt that these "designating and defining areas of linguistic significance" was an important consideration as a way to develop policies that could provide a "stronger foundation" for the Welsh language to thrive in these communities.
According to the commission's report, the advantage of having such designated areas included allowing policy variation and policy emphasis to support Welsh as a community language, ensuring that the policy variation responds to the diverse social and linguistic needs of these areas, increasing the consideration given to the Welsh language within a policy framework, allowing interventions in support of the Welsh language in order to stabilise and strengthen it as a community language, as well as giving communities the necessary powers to reverse language shift.
Further down in the report, it addressed the housing needs of Welsh-speaking communities. The commission wrote: "Tackling the housing needs of Welsh-speaking communities is important. The Commission supports the Welsh Language Communities Housing Plan and the Dwyfor Pilot Scheme. In principle, the work of the Welsh Language Communities Housing Plan could be expanded in order to create a 'whole system' strategic vehicle to implement and vary housing policy in areas of (higher density) linguistic significance.
"Community Landlords should have a central role in responding to housing needs in these areas. Community-led housing initiatives should be supported. The existing housing stock should be better utilised. The Commission will consider the content of the Green Paper on the Right to Adequate Housing once it is published. The Commission also notes the development of new policies with regards to second homes.
"In town and country planning, there is a need for broader interventions than those which currently exist in relation to the Welsh language. The Commission will host a workshop in the autumn to begin developing policy recommendations in the field. The workshop will consider whether more guidance should be provided to planning authorities on planning policy and the Welsh language, whether policies in favour of the Welsh language should be strengthened, and discussions on local community planning will be held. It will also consider the exact role areas of (higher density) linguistic significance should play in relation to planning policy."
In a statement released on Thursday, Jeremy Miles MS said that he welcomed the position paper. He said: "I welcome the Commission’s Position Paper and I wish to thank Dr Brooks, and the members of the Commission for producing a comprehensive report. The paper shows that detailed discussions on important issues regarding the sustainability of our Welsh-speaking communities has taken place.
He added: "The Commission has looked closely at the challenges we’re facing as we work towards Cymraeg 2050: a million Welsh-speakers. To enable our Welsh-speaking communities to thrive, we must safeguard the sustainability of our communities by offering good job opportunities and a supply of housing that is affordable to buy and rent."
The position paper does not propose policy recommendations, but rather present the commission's preliminary findings and conclusions. The Commission for Welsh-Speaking Communities will publish a report in August 2024, which will then provide policy recommendations to the Welsh Government.
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