In light of Carmarthenshire County Council Executive Board's decision not to prioritise Adult Community Learning Services Sioned Elin, Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith in Carmarthenshire said:

"We understand that less money has been given to the council for adult education services, but the council has been actively looking at the budget in recent years and intends to cut other services too. What will be here for future generations - who will want to live here, and who will be able to live here?"

The decision will mean that day-to-day running costs for community learning centres in Ammanford, Glanamman and Felinfoel will not be provided from the end of March; and that numeracy, literacy, computer literacy and English for speakers of other languages ​​will be prioritised.

Sioned Elin added:

"Education in general will bear the brunt of the cuts proposed in Carmarthenshire. Cuts of more than £18 million are intended for the education budget over the next three years, and the closure or reduction of library hours and introducing a charge for school buses are being discussed. Now adult education will suffer. According to the council's own figures, 85% of adults in the county who attend such courses are unemployed, so the effects will again be most severe for the most disadvantaged residents of the county"

"We also question why the Council intend to prioritise English for speakers of foreign languages. Of course, most residents of Carmarthenshire speak English, but Welsh is the language of many communities. In order to facilitate the inclusion of people who have moved to the area into the community, the same priority needs to be given to Welsh and English. "

This comes the week after Cymdeithas yr Iaith responded to budget consultations that Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire County Councils were holding. Amongst recommendations by the two County Councils cuts to branch libraries in Carmarthenshire and cuts to supported bus services in Pembrokeshire.

Cymdeithas' response notes:
"Its services in small communities that are put under pressure every time, which makes it increasingly difficult for people to stay in the area to live and work...In the face of cut backs we call on the council to review services, but as it does, instead of looking only at the cost and value for money, that the value and impact of these services on the community and on the people of the county. "