Dyfodol i’r Iaith has expressed its dismay at the Welsh Government’s Welsh Language Action Plan for the period 2021-22. Since the Government’s stated aim is to ensure a million Welsh speakers and increase its usage, the organisation believes that this document is totally inadequate: far too short on the essential requirements of vision, detail and finance. In the words of Dyfodol’s Chair, Heini Gruffudd:

“This is an Action Plan that shirks its responsibilities and reveals a woeful lack of ambition. The intention to “continue” working is stated repeatedly, with little explanation of how this will produce key outcomes such as transmitting the language within the home environment or increasing the use of Welsh within the community and the workplace.

In the same way, the response to the needs of Welsh-medium education is disappointing: the new Welsh in Education Strategic Plans have been postponed for another year and there is a failure to recognize the post-Covid opportunity to develop the education sector and recruit and train more Welsh-medium teachers.

The situation of the Welsh language needs more commitment than this: more strategic vison and positive actions. Indeed, it could be argued that this feeble document is an insult to all who support the language.”