Less than 12% of Wales' top civil servants can speak Welsh, figures released to the Welsh Language Society show.According to statistics released under the Freedom of Information Act, of the nearly three thousand staff who work in the Assembly Government's head office, in Cathays Park, Cardiff, just over three hundred speak Welsh - just over eleven percent. That's roughly half the level amongst the general Welsh population: the 2001 census recorded that over one in five could speak Welsh, more recent surveys put the figure closer to a quarter of the population.The information also shows that the level of Welsh language learning in the Welsh civil service has halved in the last six years. In 2003, 7.5% of civil servants in the Welsh government were learning, by today, that figure had fallen to only 3%.Commenting on the information released to Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (The Welsh Language Society), the campaign group's chair, Menna Machreth Jones, said:"These figures are disappointing. There are a few positive initiatives the Assembly government is taking to promote the Welsh language, but they're are clearly not enough. As the Equality and Human Rights Commission pointed out earlier this year, women are also underepresented at the top levels of power. There's clearly a wider equalities problem; I hope the Assembly government will agree to do something about the issue. At the moment, they're treating Welsh like an optional add-on rather than as an essential part of the government's work."

"The Assembly Government is currently consulting on its "bilingual Wales" strategy. Well, they probably need to get their own house in order pretty sharpish before they start telling others what to do - a bilingual country means a bilingual civil service. The onus is on them to show leadership. We do welcome their commitment in the One Wales coalition document to create a truly bilingual country, but they need to show they're serious.""Many of the people in Cathays Park are involved in some of the most important decisions that affect the future of the Welsh language - in the health service, education and housing. For example, these officials are involved in councils' school reorganisations, changes that have a massive impact on the future of the language. It's essential that the civil service generally has a wide understanding of language issues and can serve the public in our two languages."