Written Statement: Welsh Government’s Response to the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities report on Town and Country Planning

I have today published the Welsh Government’s response to the Report of the Commission for Welsh‑speaking Communities on Town and Country Planning.

The Commission’s report made recommendations aimed at further integrating the Welsh language into the planning system, ensuring that planning policy supports the long-term viability of Welsh as a community language. It has sought to respond to structural challenges facing Welsh-speaking areas and proposed ways that planning policy could help sustain these communities socially, culturally and linguistically in an integrated way with other policy interventions. 

The Commission has provided fourteen recommendations aimed at addressing these challenges. The report concluded with a detailed list of recommendations which focus on:

• Increasing the prominence of language in planning decision-making.
• Ensuring development plans consider linguistic impacts.
• Strengthening evidence requirements for Welsh language considerations.
• Training planners to understand linguistic dynamics.
• Reviewing policy documents so that the Welsh language is treated as a material consideration consistently across the planning system.

The Government is supportive of the broad principle of establishing a central, coherent framework for Welsh language policy, as recommended by the Commission across all policy areas. The Commission’s work aligns with our strategic commitment to ensuring that the Welsh language thrives as a living community language. 

The future of the language across Wales will depend on a wide range of factors beyond the town and country planning system, particularly education, demographic change, community activities and a sound economic base to maintain thriving sustainable communities. Both reports by the Commission highlight the importance of a holistic approach to the wellbeing of the Welsh language. The planning system can contribute to securing the future wellbeing of the Welsh language, by establishing the conditions to allow sustainable communities to thrive.

I wish to thank Dr. Simon Brooks, the Chair of the Commission, and its members for their expertise and dedication in preparing this report as well as the main report. I also wish to thank all the individuals, groups and organisations that have provided evidence as well as taken part in workshops and discussions with the Commission on a wide range of issues.