The National Assembly for Wales's Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee has launched its inquiry into the Welsh Government's Welsh language strategy.
The Welsh Government's current strategy comes to an end on 31 March 2017.
On 1 August the Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language, Alun Davies AM, and the First Minister, Carwyn Jones AM, launched a consultation on the Welsh Government's new Welsh Language Strategy at the National Eisteddfod in Abergavenny. That consultation ends on 31 October.
The Committee is now inviting people to submit evidence to its inquiry.
"The Welsh Government's stated ambition is to have a million Welsh speakers by 2050," said the Committee's Chair, Bethan Jenkins AM.
"According to the most recent Census in 2011 there were 562,000 Welsh speakers in Wales and the aim of the strategy is to almost double the number of Welsh speakers by the middle of the century.
"I am pleased that the Welsh Government has set such an ambitious target, which has been widely welcomed on all sides. If this target is to be reached, then solid foundations need to be laid now; not least to ensure that we have the people in place who can teach and inspire the Welsh speakers of the future.
"Whether we speak it or not, the language is one of the most defining features of what it is to be Welsh. It belongs to us all and its quite right that we should be ambitious for its future.
"That's why the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee has agreed that this is the right time to look at how the strategy will be turned from words into actions and how those actions can ensure success. Our inquiry will seek to inform and influence the new strategy at a formative stage in its development."
The Welsh Government has identified creating a workforce with the appropriate skills to educate and provide services through the medium of Welsh as a key objective, and the committee would particularly like to hear your views on:
- Improving workforce planning and support for practitioners for all phases of education; and
- Ensuring a sufficient workforce for Welsh-medium education and teaching as a subject.
Submitting evidence:
General information regarding consultation procedures should be returned to:
Alternatively, hard copies of completed forms can be sent to:
Steve George
Clerk
Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee
National Assembly for Wales
Cardiff Bay
CF99 1NA.
Submissions should arrive no later than Wednesday 30 November 2016.
More information on the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee.