It is essential that Welsh speakers are prioritised to access social housing in Welsh speaking communities – that is one of Dyfodol i’r Iaith’s calls in its response to the Welsh-speaking Communities Commission’s consultation.
Among fifty other suggestions, Dyfodol i’r Iaith calls to ensure that all future housing developments be based on local need only instead of the Office for National Statistics’ projected population growth.
Another call is the need to designate Welsh speaking communities as Areas of Special Lingusitic Significance (‘ASLS’) and to strengthen the process for considering the effects on the Welsh language within the Planning system in the same way as for environmental and conservation matters. The process should also include capping the total numbers of second homes in all communities and monitoring the actual linguistic effects of approved planning applications for residential, leisure and economic developments.
Dylan Bryn Roberts, Chief Executive of Dyfodol i’r Iaith, commented “Perhaps this is the last chance we have to ensure the continuation of our Welsh-speaking communities. They are under existential threat from inward and outward migration.
“In addition to the policy points above, economic conditions need to be created that will keep and attract local people to work in the Welsh-speaking areas.
“We are looking forward to seeing the Commission’s suggestions in due course, and to seeing the Government take steps that will safeguard the continued use of Welsh in all aspects of life in Welsh-speaking communities. Without intervention, all these communities will disappear forever.”
Loss of golden opportunity – that is the view of Dyfodol i’r Iaith on the Welsh Government’s Budget. With the Government responsible for spending £18 billion in the coming year, spending on projects to regenerate the Welsh language seems disastrously short of the need.
Dyfodol i’r Iaith has already called for capital expenditure of £200 million to be shared between five Welsh counties to solve the crisis of residential and second homes. The Government’s current proposals to the Arfor fund and to build social housing do not come close to need.
Dyfodol i’r Iaith has also asked for priority to be given to teacher training and to teaching the language to teachers. There is no indication, says Dyfodol i’r iaith, that the new budget is going to give the necessary boost in this area.
Heini Gruffudd, Chair of Dyfodol i’r Iaith, said, “The need to transform the housing market in our more Welsh-speaking communities has long been clear, and the Government has accepted this. This budget will unfortunately continue the crisis.”
“The Government also knows that there is a crisis in the provision of staff with adequate language skills in primary and secondary schools. IRALE in the Basque Country received a budget of £25 million a year to teach the language to teachers, and some 1,000 teachers a year were taught the language in full-time courses over a quarter of a century.
“If we are serious about transforming the language into Welsh schools, there must be an equivalent programme to that of the Basque Country.”