Category Archives: The Assembly

OPEN DOOR TO RECOGNISING THE WELSH LANGUAGE IN PLANNING

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The door is still open recognise the Welsh language in a law that involves house planning.  That is the view of Dyfodol i’r Iaith after meeting Carwyn Jones, the First Minister.

The Government’s Planning Bill was presented earlier this month, which deals with planning organisation in Wales rather than policy.

Lawyer Emyr Lewis said on behalf of Dyfodol i’r Iaith, “It was clear to us that the First Minister was eager to find a way of ensuring that new housing plans will not be harmful to the Welsh language, but that there are practical issues to be solved.”

Emyr Lewis added, “A statutory framework is needed to enable the Welsh language to be a consideration in the field of planning, and to safeguard the language within the process in the way that Natural Resources Wales and Cadw safeguard the environment and historical sites.”

The meeting between Dyfodol i’r Iaith and the First Minister followed a paper presented by the movement.  There was a constructive discussion, and the First Minister, according to Dyfodol i’r Iaith, has promised to respond to the movement’s detailed suggestions.  Dyfodol i’r Iaith will be in continuing contact with the First Minister to work out how the Welsh language can be included in law involving planning.

Carwyn Jones referred to his discussions with Dyfodol i’r Iaith during Prime Ministers questions session on Tuesday, 21st October. In reply to Aled Roberts’ question regarding the planning bill, Carwyn Jones stated that Dyfodol i’r Iaith have interesting ideas, but it would remain to be seen what is practical, and he reiterated that he was still in discussions with the organisation.

BILINGUAL WORKFORCE WELCOMED

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Dyfodol i’r Iaith has welcomed the Government’s commitment to create a bilingual worforce to serve the early years and child care and play in Wales.

The Government’s White paper recently published outlines a 10 year plan for this field.

Ond element in the White paper is to enhance the workforce’s bilingual skills, and Dyfodol i’r Iaith welcomes this.

Dr Elin Walker Jones, a clinical psychologist and Dyfodol i’r Iaith’s spokesperson on health commented, “We warmly welcome the commitment to create a bilingual workforce as part of the ten year plan for yearly years and child care. We are also looking forward to cooperating with the Government and other relevant bodies to put in place appropriate procedures to realise these plans.”

Dr Jones added, “It’s great to see the white paper’s statement that a bilingual workforce is a key element, but it does not detail how this will be brought about.”

Dyfodol i’r Iaith will respond formally to the white paper, and will offer to assist with establishing a procedure which will ensure a bilingual workforce.

Letter to the Petitions Committee

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This is a letter sent by the Chair of Dyfodol i’r Iaith to the Petitions Committee of the National Assembly for Wales regarding our petition supporting the Mentrau Iaith

 

Dear Members of Petitions Committee,

We are pleased to note that you will be considering the Petition Support for the Mentrau Iaith in your next meeting on 29th April 2014 and we hope that you will be in a position to take further action following that meeting.

The  Mentrau Iaith are community organisations that operate to benefit the Welsh language locally and they provided a wide range of activities and projects through the medium of Welsh to people f all ages and backgrounds in Wales’ communities.  The report by Cardiff University, commissioned by the Welsh Government, states that the work of the Mentrau should continue and develop. The report also notes that the Mentrau do not receive sufficient core funding to operate to their full potential. You can read the report here: http://wales.gov.uk/topics/welshlanguage/publications/review-of-mentrau-iaith/?lang=en

Dyfodol i’r Iaith decided to present a petition to support the  Mentrau following a review of their work in order to call on the Assembly to ask the Welsh Government to increase their support to the Mentrau and respond in a timely and positive way following that report

We were pleased to hear the First Minister declare his support for the  Mentrau Iaith in several recent statements and on the floor of the Assembly, saying that he considered the Mentrau to be “powerful and valuable tools” and that he wanted to “ensure that their work continues to the future” We now believe it is timely for the First Minister and the Government to take action to make a genuine difference to the future of the Mentrau and the Welsh language by investing in them.

We would be pleased to discuss further with you and would be happy to come to one of your meetings in the near future to discuss how you as a Committee can help us to support the  Mentrau Iaith for the good of the Welsh language across Wales.

Best wishes,

Heini Gruffudd