Cabinet meeting: 12 May 2025

• Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS (Chair)
• Huw Irranca-Davies MS
• Jayne Bryant MS
• Mark Drakeford MS
• Jane Hutt MS (from item 3)
• Julie James MS
• Jeremy Miles MS
• Lynne Neagle MS
• Ken Skates MS
   
• Dawn Bowden MS
• Sarah Murphy MS
• Vikki Howells MS
• Jack Sargeant MS

Apologies

• Rebecca Evans MS

Officials

• Andrew Goodall, Permanent Secretary
• Rachel Garside-Jones, Director First Minister’s Group
• Rebecca Dunn, Deputy Director Cabinet Division
• Victoria Jones, Principal Private Secretary First Minister
• Toby Mason, Head of Strategic Communications
• Sinead Gallagher, Deputy Director Cabinet Office
• Wayne David, Special Adviser
• Sarah Dickins, Special Adviser
• Madeleine Brindley, Special Adviser
• Julia David, Special Adviser
• Haf Davies, Special Adviser
• Victoria Evans, Special Adviser
• David Hooson, Special Adviser
• Nadila Hussein, Special Adviser
• Kirsty Keenan, Special Adviser
• Jackie Jones, Special Adviser
• Stephen Jones, Special Adviser
• Philippa Marsden, Special Adviser
• Martha O’Neil, Special Adviser
• Mary Wimbury, Special Adviser
• Christopher W Morgan, Head of Cabinet Secretariat (minutes)
• Damian Roche, Cabinet Secretariat
• Helena Bird, Permanent Secretary’s office
• Kath Hallett, First Minister’s office
• Tracey Burke, Director General Climate Change & Rural Affairs
• Sioned Evans, Chief Operating Officer
• Judith Paget, Director General Health
• Andrew Slade, Director General Economy, Energy and Transport
• Emma Williams, Interim Director General Education, Culture & Welsh Language
• Nia James, Director Legal Services
• Bethan Webb, Deputy Director, Cymraeg 2050 (item 4)
• Iddon Edwards, Head of Economy, Housing and Welsh Language (item 4)

1.1 Cymeradwyodd y Cabinet gofnodion y 28 Ebril 2025 / Cabinet approved the minutes of 28 April 2025.

VE Day commemorations

2.1 The First Minister reflected upon the VE Day commemoration events that had taken place the previous week. These included: the First Minister’s attendance at services in Llandaff Cathedral and Westminster Abbey; and the Deputy First Minister representing the Government at a Royal Garden Party.

3.1 Cabinet considered the Plenary Grid and noted that voting time was scheduled for 6:45pm on Tuesday and around 6.25pm on Wednesday.

4.1 The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language introduced the paper, which set out the Government’s response to the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities’ report on ‘Empowering communities, strengthening the Welsh language.’

4.2 The commission’s report highlighted the 2021 Census results, evidencing that the language was declining within its traditional Welsh-speaking heartlands. The issues associated with this were complex, with no single or simple answer to the challenges facing the language.

4.3 The key policy areas the commission considered included, the economy, workplaces, community development housing, town and county planning, along with equality, diversity, inclusion, Welsh medium education and community-based language planning.

4.4 There were 57 recommendations, the central theme of which was the need to designate areas of higher density linguistic significance.

4.5 The government’s draft response aligned with nine main chapters of the report. It provided a short summary of the chapter, a narrative outlining the response to the recommendations, while outlining action already underway and what further would be done.

4.6 Cabinet recognised this report was part of a wider approach to supporting the use of the Welsh language, and there would be a need to consider these recommendations in the context of the Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill, which was finalising its passage through the Senedd. It was noted this Bill was the first to be taken through the Senedd entirely in the Welsh language.

4.7 Cabinet approved the paper and noted that the government’s response would be published during the Urdd National Eisteddfod at the end of May.

Cabinet Secretariat
May 2025