Welsh language campaigners have covered Government offices in Caernarfon with stickers this morning in a call for First Minister Carwyn Jones to adopt policy changes in response to the Census results.

The activists plastered stickers, with the slogan “Llywodraeth Cymru - Gweithredwch” (Welsh Government - Act!) on them, over the windows of the government office in the town at around eight o'clock this morning (Tuesday, May 22). Cymdeithas yr Iaith members are calling on the Government to adopt six basic policy changes, such as Welsh-medium education for all, fair funding for the language, and a new planning system for the benefit of our communities. The protest is part of a general Cymdeithas campaign to put pressure on the Labour Government to act urgently in light of a drop in the number of Welsh speakers.

Cen Llwyd, a spokesperson for language pressure group Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg commented: “Well over a year since the Census results, it's about time the government introduced policy changes which will enable everyone in our country to live in Welsh. We are calling on the government to take serious action in six specific areas so that the language grows. With political will things can change, but to date the government response has been little more than laughable. Small steps won't be sufficient to respond to the crisis – ambitious steps need taking in the fields of education, planning and funding. We hope our protests will spur them to act.”

In October 2013, the conclusions of the Cynhadledd Fawr - the Welsh Government’s consultation on the state of the language following the Census results - among the main recommendations were the need: to increase financial investment in the language; radical changes to the teaching of Welsh as a second language; and changes to planning law. Instead, the following month, the First Minister announced he would be launching a campaign to encourage people to use Welsh five times a day. The Government’s draft planning bill did not mention the Welsh language once.