Written statement: appointments to the Welsh Language Partnership Council

I would like to inform Members on the outcome of a recent appointments process to appoint new members to the Welsh Language Partnership Council. The Council is established under Section 149 of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 and its primary role is to give advice and make representations to the Welsh Ministers in relation to Welsh Language matters. The period of the first Welsh language Partnership Council came to an end on 31 March 2017 and I am grateful to all those members for their support, in particular during the process of preparing a new Welsh Language Strategy which will be published shortly.    

I was pleased with the positive response we had to the recent appointments process. The quality of the candidates and the breadth of expertise offered was exceptionally high, and the decision of who to appoint was not easy. I have therefore appointed 10 members, and I am grateful to them for accepting the invite to serve on the Partnership Council. The new members will commence on 1 July 2017 for a three year period. The members of the new Council will be Simon Brooks, Owen Derbyshire, Rhian Huws-Williams, Dewi Jones, Gwion Lewis, Angharad Lloyd-Williams, Rhodri Llwyd Morgan, Gwynedd Parry, Enlli Thomas, and Marian Thomas.

I am confident that they have the expertise and experience required to support me and my officials in delivering the first 3 years of the new strategy. I look forward to working with them.