LANGUAGE campaigners have given a cautious welcome to news that Welsh Government officials are organising a language impact review of all departmental spending.

The development comes following a meeting between the First Minister and Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg where Carwyn Jones promised such a review, and a follow-up meeting with Minister Leighton Andrews.  A freedom of information request by the language group showed that less than four thousand pounds, out of a budget of almost £17 million, has been spent on Welsh medium education for adults in the community. In one financial year, not a single penny was spent from the budget on Welsh medium courses.

Toni Schiavone, Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s sustainable communities spokesperson, commented "It’s encouraging news and shows our campaigning is starting to bear fruit. However, we will still need to scrutinise the details and ensure the Government’s spending patterns change, across all departments. For example, we worry about the review not being independent enough."

"We’ve seen a number of examples of Government spending completely undermining the Welsh language. So there’s a real need for change following this review. Carwyn Jones is going to respond to all the other points in our Living Manifesto by the start of June. And hopefully we’ll see a further positive response. We will be discussing his comments in our special general meeting on the 8th of June."

Cymdeithas’ research also showed that only 354 out of out of a total of 90,477 apprenticeships funded by Welsh Government were held through the medium of Welsh over the last three years. And only 0.3% of spending on work-based learning funded studies through the medium of Welsh.

In a recent letter to the First Minister, Robin Farrar, Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith emphasised the importance of the review. He wrote: “Although we expected these figures to highlight big problems in the government’s historic spending patterns, it was quite a shock to see so little being spent on Welsh medium programmes ... we look forward to hearing more details about this spending review soon … I would like to urge you to act urgently on this matter given the review will need to be completed soon in order for it to inform the Government’s next budget.”

A special general meeting of Cymdeithas yr Iaith will be held on Saturday 8th June in  Rhydaman to discuss amendments to the group’s “Living Manifesto”.