[Lgpolicy-list] [lg policy] UK: Further £1m for Welsh language centres announced

[Harold Schiffman]

Further £1m for Welsh language centres announced
[image: Musicians Mei Gwynedd and Gwenan Gibbard at the 2014 National
Eisteddfod] The new centres aim to boost the use of Welsh outside of events
such as the National Eisteddfod
 Continue reading the main story
<http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-29903419#story_continues_1> Related
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 A further £1m to open new centres to encourage more people to learn and
use the Welsh language has been announced by First Minister Carwyn Jones.

He also defended his role as Welsh language minister, after a suggestion
the job should go to someone else.

The funding for the language centres next year follows the £1.25m already
announced for 2014-15 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-28662015>
.

Councils, colleges and universities can bid to use the cash to encourage
Welsh use at "grassroots level".

It is the latest in a series of measures aimed at supporting the Welsh
language, and comes after the 2011 Census showed a decline in the number of
Welsh speakers in some of its strongholds in mid and west Wales
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-21259079>.

First Minister Carwyn Jones said: "Successful bids for this year's funding
will be announced shortly, but as the response has been so good, I'm
pleased to announce this further £1 million today.

"I've always said the key to encouraging use of the Welsh language is for
people to be able to use it socially at grassroots, community level."

"This significant boost in capital funding will go a long way in providing
the buildings and centres for this to happen, helping us meet our
commitments in 'Moving Forward'
<http://wales.gov.uk/topics/welshlanguage/policy/living/moving-forward/?lang=en>,
our vision for promoting use of the language in Wales," Mr Jones added.
 [image: Welsh Language Commissioner Meri Huws] Meri Huws said it might be
better to have a minister with fewer responsibilities dealing with the
language

Last week, Welsh Language Commissioner Meri Huws said that having the first
minister responsible for the Welsh language gave it "status" but she added
that "maybe, there's a chance now to have someone dedicated to the Welsh
language with fewer responsibilities from day-to-day".

But on Tuesday, in an interview with BBC Wales, Mr Jones insisted he was
the right person to shoulder responsibility for Welsh language policy in
the Welsh government.

"As someone who has always spoken Welsh, someone who comes from a Welsh
background, I think it's important to have someone from that background at
the moment looking after the language," he said.

He also responded to concern about funding cuts at the commissioner's
office, where the budget fell 10% this year, with another 8% cut planned by
the Welsh government next year.

Money was short, Mr Jones said, following cuts to spending in Westminster
"so it isn't possible to keep money exactly where it was".

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-29903419




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