The use of the Welsh language in the Assembly hasn’t increased since the start of devolution according to research by Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg released today (Thursday, April 3rd).
Although a third of Assembly Members can speak Welsh, it was only used in main Assembly meetings around 12% of the time in the last year, the same percentage as the first term of the institution back in 1999. The figures, which have been published on Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg’s website, also show that former Assembly Llywydd Dafydd Elis-Thomas comes top of the list when it comes to how many of his speeches are in Welsh.
The figures also show that Conservative Assembly Members use Welsh 2% of the time, Labour and the Liberal Democrats 6% of the time, and Plaid Cymru members speak in the language in 54% of the discussions in the Senedd chamber.
Commenting on the research, Robin Farrar, Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg said: “These figures show that the National Assembly is not succeeding to work through the medium of Welsh. The use of the language continues to be very low; there’s been no real increase since the advent of devolution. A number of organisations perform much better - and that should be very embarrassing for our national democratic body. The Assembly isn’t a genuinely Welsh language body despite its public commitments - that must change.”
“The Assembly Commission has chosen to exempt itself from the duties other bodies will have to meet to provide Welsh language services - the new language standards. It has a special responsibility therefore to prove there’s going to be a substantial improvement under its unique system. As a society, we have met a number of times with Assembly officials over the last two years to press them to improve their language scheme. The fact they still publish a number of documents in English before publishing them in Welsh, is a sign of their lack of commitment to creating a genuinely pro-Welsh language environment. For example, Assembly officials promised they’d ensure that the Cofnod (Record of Proceedings) is published in Welsh at the same time as in English. However, it doesn’t appear that’s happened. There are also weaknesses in their recruitment policies and their staff training.”
Discussing the use of Welsh by individual Assembly Members, Mr Farrar added: “We don’t criticise individuals for their use of the language because their individual decisions are influenced by systems and the linguistic climate in the Assembly. However, Dafydd Elis-Thomas does deserve praise for his consistent use of the language, and I hope more Assembly Members will follow his example. They could make a direct contribution to normalising the Welsh language in the country by showing national leadership. It’s worth noting that a number of learners make an effort to use the language, and the Assembly Commission needs to support them in order to ensure they speak Welsh even more often.”
“The difference in the use of the language between various political parties suggest that work is needed in terms of improving the culture within some of those parties. I hope they will look to use every opportunity to expand its use.”