Written Statement: Publication of Cymraeg 2050 Action Plan for 2021-22

Today, I’m announcing the publication of the Cymraeg 2050 Action Plan for 2021-22. This document describes how we’ll continue to implement the objectives contained in our strategy Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers during 2021-22.

The Action Plan also reflects the steps set out in the Cymraeg 2050 Work Programme for 2017-2021, which was published in tandem with the strategy, and which outlines the steps the Welsh Government will take during the strategy’s first four years. The aim is for the work programmes that derive from Cymraeg 2050 to coincide with Senedd terms. Therefore, as we approach the end of the current term, this will be the final annual action plan published during this initial phase.

The Work Programme for 2017-2021, and the associated annual action plans, have gone a long way towards laying the foundations and making progress towards the two main targets as follows:

• The number of Welsh speakers to reach 1 million by 2050.

• The percentage of the population that speak Welsh daily, and can speak more than just a few words of Welsh, to increase from 10 per cent (in 2013–15) to 20 per cent by 2050.

However, much has changed since we launched Cymraeg 2050 – not only those obvious, dramatic things like the UK leaving the EU, and COVID-19 putting such a sudden end to normal everyday life, but also the linguistic context. The challenge for the next Government will be to continue building on the progress made to date, respond to the changes that occur around us, and take advantage of every new opportunity to move the implementation to the next level. 

One of the first tasks for the next Government will therefore be to consult extensively on the next draft Work Programme for 2021-26, and invite the views of as many people as possible on the proposed plans. Until that point, the Government will continue to operate in line with the principles laid out in Cymraeg 2050, and the steps contained in this latest Action Plan.