Abolishing Welsh Language Rights Day

Cymdeithas yr Iaith has expressed concern that the 'Defnyddia dy Gymraeg' ('Use your Welsh') campaign by the Welsh Language Commissioner is an inadequate exercise, and that abandoning Diwrnod Hawliau'r Gymraeg (Welsh Language Rights Day) – which used to be held at the same time of year – is a completely misleading step.

Welsh Language Rights Day was launched in December 2019 and was held annually until 2023. Following the appointment of the current Commissioner, the Use your Welsh campaign was launched in 2023 in its place. This is despite the fact that the Welsh Language Measure 2011 places a statutory duty on the Commissioner to pay regard to the "rights which arise from the enforceability of the standards" in carrying out her work.

According to Aled Thomas, Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Rights Group:

"We are extremely concerned that the Welsh Language Commissioner has dropped the rights campaign and is pursuing a completely inadequate path with Defnyddia dy Gymraeg (Use your Welsh). The new campaign is ineffective and oversimplifies the situation. It shifts the responsibility for the lack of Welsh-language services away from institutions and places it on the shoulders of Welsh speakers. It does not acknowledge the systemic barriers that Welsh speakers have to face, such as institutions failing to offer Welsh proactively, the lack of face-to-face services in Welsh, the inferior quality of services, and the extra effort the public must make in order to try to obtain Welsh-language services.

"This is part of the same shift towards softening by the Commissioner, which includes refusing to investigate members of the public's complaints about the lack of Welsh-language services. Under the current Commissioner, the percentage of complaints that are investigated has fallen to unprecedented and historically low levels: 44% in 2023–24 and 26% in the last year. The word "hawl" ("right") appears only once in her new strategic plan – and even then it is buried deep within the document."