Cymdeithas yr Iaith has called for the company Arad Consulting to be forced to repay the fee which it received for preparing a report on the way forward for Welsh-medium higher education.

In its report, the private company of consultants favours 'more co-operation'� between existing institutions of higher education rather than the establishment of a multi-site Welsh-medium college of higher education.In response, Cymdeithas Education Chair Ffred Ffransis commented:"This is just another version of the old failed formula of trying to increase by a little the ridiculously low 3% of courses which are available through the medium of Welsh.""It is plain to everyone that the right to study a full range of higher education courses through the medium of Welsh will only come about when an institution is set up which has that as its primary function.""It appears that the company gave no due consideration to our call for a multi-site Welsh-medium college which would operate in communities and workplaces as well as in campuses.""We suspect that there was no way that the company would reach a conclusion that the Welsh Assembly Government did want to hear for fear of not being awarded future contracts. The company should be forced to repay its fee, and the whole practice of giving public money to private consultants should be stopped in favour of public committees hearing evidence."